THE  TOURIST'S 

R.USSIA 


RUTH  KEDZIEWOOD 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 

JIM  TULLY 

GIFT  OF 
MRS.  JIM  TULLY 


THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 


EMPRESS    OF    RUSSIA,    FROM    HER    LATEST    PHOTOGRAPH 


THE 

TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 


BY 


RUTH    KEDZIE   WOOD 


With  Numerous  Illustrations 


NEW  YORK 
DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 

1912 


Copyright,  191J 

By  DODD,  mead  &  COMPANY 

Published  May,  1912 


DK 


To  PHILIP 


858G25 


^ 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


CHAPTEE 

Introduction 1 

I     Passports  —  Customs  —  Transportation — Rail- 
ways— Cars — Trams 12 

II  Hotels — Cuisine — Restaurants  and  Gardens — 
Theatres  and  Concerts  —  Races  —  Sports — 
Dances — General  Information 27 

III  Chronology 48 

IV  The    Baltic   Cities 54 

V    Finland 65 

VI  The  Capital,  and  Other  Cities  of  Great  Rus- 
sia      8.3 

VII    Moscow  and  the   Troika  Monastery     .     .     ,110 
VIII    Tour  of  the  Volga  and  the  Caucasus     .     .     .  154 
IX    Central,    Western    and    Little    Russia — The 

Crimea 193 

X    Odessa — Kiev — ^Warsaw    .     .     *     .    ..     .     .     .  218 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Empress   of   Russia   from   her  latest  photo- 
graph    .     . Fron.ti8pi$c0 

Facing  'page 
Imperial   Mail  Steamer  "Kursk."    Type   of  Ships   on 

New  York-Libau  Route 14 

Peasant  Girl  in  the  Field 22 

A  Caucasus  Boar  Hunt 39 

The  Oldest  Ikon  of  the  Virgin  in  Russia;  in  Cathedral 

of  St.  Sophia,  Novgorod 43 

Map    of    Russia 50 

Kalkstrasse  and  the  Promenade,  Riga 66 

Grand  Duchess  Elizabeth,  now  an  Inmate  of  Convent 

which  she  Founded 70 

St.  Petersburg 81 

The  Winter  Palace,  St.  Petersburg 88 

Tauride  Palace,  St.  Petersburg,  Meeting  Place  of  the 

Duma 93 

Session   Chamber   of   the   Duma,   Tauride  Palace,   St. 

Petersburg 93 

Monument  in  St.  Petersburg  to  Memory   of  Soldiers 

Killed  in  Japanese  War 98 

Moscow 113 

The   Kremlin,   Moscow 130 

Vladimir,   Metropolitan  of   Moscow 128 

Spaaski  Gate  Kremlin,  Moscow.     The  Most  Holy  Gate 

of  the  Kremlin 136 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

The   Red  Square,  Church  of  St.  Basil  and   Redeemer 

Gate,  Moscow 144 

Moscow  Policeman 150 

Nizhni  Novgorod  (Bridge  of  the  Fair) 166 

The   Imperial   Children 178 

Ivan    the    Tterrible,    by    Antokolsky;    Alexander    III. 

Museum,    St.    Petersburg 196 

Meridian   Bay,   Sevastopol 206 

Place   Turemnaja,   Odessa 220 

Kiev,  Capital  of  the  Cossack  Kingdom 228 

Nowo  Zjazd  Street,  Warsaw     .     .     ..     ..     .     ^     .     .  238 


THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 


INTRODUCTION 

Russia's  position  so  far  to  the  east  of  the 
main  highways  of  European  travel  explains  only 
in  part  the  tourist's  hitherto  almost  total  dis- 
regard of  her  attractions.  It  has  long  been  con- 
sidered a  nation  apart,  more  to  be  shunned  than 
visited.  The  temper  of  Russia,  which  is  Oriental 
rather  than  European,  has,  until  recent  years, 
sustained  her  in  an  enigmatic,  self-sufficient  at- 
titude toward  the  West.  To  the  Russian,  Rus- 
sia was  the  world.  The  vague  empires  beyond 
her  borders  had  little  significance  for  her. 

When  Peter  the  First  succeeded  Alexis,  and 
elaborated  into  a  westernising  campaign  his 
father's  tentative  efforts  to  introduce  foreign 
crafts,  the  Muscovites  fought  him  with  sullen  ob- 
stinacy. They  regarded  his  ambition  as  treason. 
The  Russians  under  the  Romanovs  were  scarcely 
more  modernised  than  the  subjects  of  Rurik  and 
Igor.  Their  resistance  to  the  dogmatic  Peter 
counted  little,  at  least  in  externals.  Reforms 
were  rigorously  put  in  force  to  satisfy  his  pas- 
sion for  things  European.  St.  Petersburg  strug- 
gled into  being  on  its  marshy  foundation,  despite 


2  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

destroying  floods  and  nearly  insuperable  impedi- 
ments. The  spirit  of  Peter  was  also  in  Cather- 
ine the  Second's  reign.  She  imported  not  only 
workmen  from  abroad,  but  intellects  as  well. 
Gradually,  as  one  sovereign  succeeded  another,  the 
Russians  reluctantly  acknowledged  that  some  good 
thing  might  come  out  of  the  rest  of  Europe. 
Foreigners  were  admitted  as  instructors  in  man- 
ufacture, trade  and  tactics,  and  the  educated 
began  to  acquire  the  languages  of  their  tutors, 
with  proverbial  facility. 

Nevertheless,  it  was  an  Eastern  nation  which 
most  influenced  Russia's  metamorphosis.  Japan, 
epitomising  Western  aggression  in  yellow  garb, 
sounded  the  alarum  which  aroused  the  giant  from 
stupor  and  apathy.  Before  Port  Arthur,  Russia 
was  of  the  East;  to-day  her  ideals  are  Western. 
Seven  years  after  the  close  of  the  Japanese  war, 
she  mothers  an  industrial  advance  which  enthu- 
siasts like  to  compare  to  that  of  America.  In 
the  evolution  of  her  cities  Russia  is  also  likened 
to  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
y^  The  wooden  Moscow  of  dim   arcades   and  easy- 

going commerce  is  complemented  by  a  dazzling 
city  of  brilliant  boulevards  and  monster  enter- 
prises. In  Kiev,  new  steel  structures  rub  elbows 
with   memorials    of   antiquity   which   substantiate 


INTRODUCTION  3 

her  position  as  the  Birthplace  of  the  Church. 
Riga  and  Odessa,  the  great  grain  ports  of  the 
north  and  south,  are  more  continental  in  temper 
and  structure,  for  in  Riga  it  is  the  Teutonic 
Russian,  and  in  Odessa  the  Italian,  Greek  and 
Jewish  element  which  prevails.  St.  Petersburg, 
made  in  the  image  of  Europe,  is  an  extraordinarily 
prosperous  centre.  It  has  Galleries,  Institutes, 
and  Museums  equal  to  those  of  other  capitals, 
and  a  long  list  of  tourist  attractions. 

Those  who  are  ambitious  for  Russia  industri- 
ally, exult  in  her  prodigious  awakening.  For  the 
tourist,  her  advance  assures  even  more  wide- 
spread transportation  facilities,  and  better  pro- 
vincial hotels.  The  railways  and  steamers  of  Rus- 
sia are  not  only  luxurious,  but  the  least  expensive 
in  Europe,  or  out  of  it.  The  service  and  cuisine 
of  the  hotels  in  her  chief  cities  cannot  be  excelled. 

However,  as  the  tourist  seeks  in  each  country 
its  individual  lure,  and  sighs  to  find  ideals  re- 
treating before  brisk  modernity,  so  will  he  rejoice 
that  the  true  Russia  still  exists  unspoiled.  And 
he  will  not  grumble  because  the  way  to  reach  it  has 
been  smoothed  by  civilisation.  Paradoxically, 
the  true  Russia  exists  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
pronounced  European  encroachments,  as  well  as 
in  far-away  provinces.     For,  despite  outer  con- 


4  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

cessions,  every  Slav  remains  Slavic  to  an  intensely 
characteristic     degree.     He    may    build     electric 
tramways  to  monastery  gates,  and  install  eleva- 
tors in  his  new  office  buildings;  he  may  even  dis- 
card the  stove  of  his  forefathers  for  steam  radia- 
tors, and  substitute  a  tiled  bath  for  the  vaporous 
joys  of  the  Saturday  "  bania,"  but  he  discounte- 
nances  and   forbids   the  variation   of  all   that   is 
sacredly  Russian.     A  new  cathedral   is   designed 
on  the   same   lines   as   one  which   dates   from  the 
Byzantine  invasion ;  the  features  of  the  saints  re- 
main   unalterably    as    they    were    limned    by    the 
monks  of  Mount  Athos ;  the  pilgrims  travel  the 
roads    to    their    accustomed    shrines,    replicas    in 
spirit  and  appearance  of  those  who  trod  the  high- 
ways  of  Early  Muscovy.     The  peasant  employs 
implements  with  which  his  ancestors  ploughed  and 
planted,    with    the    recent    exception    of    Baltic, 
Siberian  and  Bessarabian  farmers,  and  others  in 
scattered  districts.     His  garments  and  his  wife's 
are   cut   from   patterns   originated   in   ages   past. 
He  eats  the  same  sort  of  fare  with  the  same  sort 
of    spoon    known    to    long    ago    serfs    of    Boris 
Gudonov's    time.     Kustari   workers    and    factory 
hands  still  support  their  co-operative  bands  with 
the    subtle   tenacity    of   the    race.     Their   women 
embroider  and  spin  primordial  designs.     The  dis- 


INTRODUCTION  5 

dainful  peacock  of  their  folk-lore  frequently  ap- 
pears in  bright  silks  on  hand-woven  linens,  and 
on  carved  shelves  and  platters.  As  they  stitch 
and  chip,  they  laud  his  proud  grace  in  songs 
handed  from  generation  to  generation.  A  large 
share  of  rural  trading  is  done,  as  always,  at 
periodical  fairs,  dear  to  the  muzhik's  heart.  He 
deserts  his  sterile  meadows  for  the  ecstasy  of 
bargaining,  the  love  of  which  again  reflects  the 
Oriental  in  him.  He  is  hugely  entertained  by 
the  tricksters,  who  easily  mystify.  At  night,  in 
his  jouncing  telega,  he  returns,  his  produce  ex- 
changed for  rolls  of  linen,  and  perhaps  a  highly 
varnished  canister,  or  a  portion  of  tea  and  sugar. 
If  his  companions  reply  thickly,  or  sprawl,  unhear- 
ing,  on  the  straw  while  he  reminisces  like  a  child 
upon  his  day's  outing,  he  is  indulgent. 
It  is  not  every  man  who  can  resist  the  enticements 
of  the  traktir  on  fair  day. 

The  Russian,  rarely  hilarious,  is  usually  good- 
tempered.  He  is  without  conceit,  will  often  stoop 
to  serve,  and  is  invariably  courteous  to  strangers. 
The  writer  recalls  the  kindness  of  two  merchants 
who  surrendered  their  window  seats  and  rode  back- 
wards during  a  seven-hour  journey,  with  the  un- 
selfish desire  to  increase  the  pleasure  of  others. 
At  the  station  buffet,  they  rose  from  their  dinner 


6  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

to  ascertain  the  needs  of  their  co-travellers  and 
translate  them  into  Russian  to  the  waiter.  At 
another  time  a  passing  inquiry  of  a  medal-be- 
decked general  resulted  in  his  making  several 
trips,  half  the  length  of  the  train,  to  give  added 
information.  Once  we  were  extricated  from  a 
puzzling  situation  by  a  lady  who  refused  to  board 
her  boat  for  Kazan  until  she  had  seen  her 
chance  companions  comfortably  installed  at 
Nizhni.  An  Englishman  relates  a  corroborative 
incident.  He  had  misunderstood  directions  and 
was  in  peril  of  missing  a  train.  He  looked  about 
confused,  saw  a  citizen  approaching  and  assailed 
him  breathlessly,  gasping  out  his  predicament  in 
French.  Before  he  could  say  thank-you,  his 
Good  Samaritan  had  bundled  him  into  a  cab  and 
given  the  droskyman  directions.  That  he  also 
remembered  to  toss  the  driver  a  ruble  to  relieve 
the  encumbered  traveller  of  the  need  to  search  his 
pockets,  is  only  confirmatory  of  the  national  po- 
liteness to  foreigners.  But  the  most  outstand- 
ing act  of  courtesy  experienced  in  years  of  trav- 
elling must  be  credited  to  a  native  of  the  Rus- 
sian city  of  Andisan,  on  the  edge  of  Mongolia. 
Surrounded  by  travelling  lares  and  penates,  he 
faced  us  as  we  found  our  reservations  in  a  train 
crawling  down  to  Samara.     With  the  curiosity  of 


INTRODUCTION  7 

the  East  he  questioned  in  fair  German  as  to  our 
destination,  nationality,  age  and  married  state. 
Tolerance  matured  into  interest,  and  we  ques- 
tioned in  turn.  He  answered  readily  that  he  was 
a  cotton  grower  (months  later  we  heard  that  his 
possessions  were  among  the  largest  in  Russian 
Turkestan),  that  he  had  been  to  the  sea  for  the 
baths,  and  that  he  was  affianced  to  a  young  phy- 
sician with  amazing  eyes,  who  was  at  that  moment 
journeying  from  Andisan  to  meet  and  wed  him 
in  Samara.  The  honeymoon  was  to  be  spent  in 
the  Caucasus.  He  commented  frankly  on  parent- 
hood and  expressed  his  disapproval  of  the  Euro- 
pean woman's  corseted  figure  in  comparison  with 
the  broad-waisted  freedom  of  most  of  her  Rus- 
sian sisters.  He  ate  with  childish  haste,  he  was 
impulsive,  and  interrupted  without  apology.  We 
set  him  down  as  a  rare  specimen  of  elemental 
civilisation.  When  we  prepared  to  sleep,  his 
alert  black  eyes  remarked  that  we  were  illy 
equipped  for  the  night.  A  request  for  pillows 
and  blankets  had  brought  the  porter's  disquiet- 
ing information  that  the  supply  was  already  be- 
spoken. The  night  was  cool,  but  we  had  made 
up  our  minds  to  endure  the  discomfort,  when  we 
spied  our  primitive  man  aloft  in  the  upper  berth 
untying  parcels   and   diving  into  bundles.     With 


8  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

an  interjection,  which  was  neither  German  nor 
Russian,  he  drew  out  what  he  had  been  seeking 
—  a  snowy,  embroidered  pillow-slip.  He  disrobed 
a  monster  pillow,  and  cased  it  afresh,  fastening 
the  buttons  deftly  with  his  fine  dark  fingers. 
Then  he  unrolled  a  thick  brown  rug,  and  climbed 
down  to  the  aisle.  "  For  you,  Madame,"  he  said 
simply,  indicating  the  luxurious  bedding.  Pro- 
tests were  useless ;  resistance  seemed  a  revelation. 
"  Surely,"  his  expression  said,  "  it  is  not  extra- 
ordinary for  a  man  to  give  up  his  pillow  and 
blanket  to  a  pillow-less  lady ! "  We  perceived 
that  further  remonstrance  would  only  indicate  to 
him  that  our  Anglo-Saxon  civilisation  had  ac- 
customed us  to  less  kindness,  less  consideration 
than  might  be  expected  in  Russian  Turkestan. 

As  I  dozed  to  the  rumble  and  jerk  of  the 
wheels,  I  saw  my  benefactor  settling  himself  for 
the  night,  with  his  head  on  an  improvised  cush- 
ion and  his  long  limbs  scantily  covered  by  an 
overcoat.  Whereat  I  readjusted  some  former 
opinions  and  prejudices. 

These  kindly  incidents  of  travel  are  not  ex- 
ceptions proving  a  rule  of  brusqueness  and  in- 
difference. Tourists  in  Russia  will  not  experience 
the  shower  of  pebbles  which  has  been  known  to 
descend  on  their  kind  in  the  Netherlands;  they 


INTRODUCTION  9 

will  not  hear  the  insinuating  hiss  of  the  Belgian 
boulevards ;  they  will  never  know  the  insolence 
of  a  Paris  cabman,  or  the  pompous  jostling  of  a 
German  officer,  In  England,  the  sight-scer  is 
tolerated;  in  the  United  States,  is  sometimes 
laughed  at ;  in  Italy,  he  may  be  robbed.  But  Rus- 
sia is  the  antithesis  of  all  that  is  rude  or  negli- 
gent, for  the  stranger's  visit  is  counted  an  honour. 
Russia,  the  Hospitable,  we  may  say,  as  we  call 
Spain,  the  Sunny,  and  Egypt,  the  Mysterious. 
Once  certain  formalities  are  arranged  and  a  few 
archaic  rules  complied  with,  the  tourist  will  be 
received  in  Russia  as  a  guest,  to  be  served  alike 
by  prince  and  peasant.  One  need  only  attend  to 
what  concerns  him  and  avoid  unwise  entanglements 
with  the  "  enemies  of  the  Government  "  to  enjoy 
unhampered  the  varied  pleasures  of  the  Empire. 
English-speaking  travellers  are  yearly  confirm- 
ing this  in  increasing  numbers. 

Finland  awaits  the  tourist  in  an  Arcadia  of 
forest  green,  crystal  lakes,  and  "  white  nights." 
The  markets,  the  angular  steeples,  and  pierced 
battlements  of  the  cities  of  the  Baltic  recall  the 
Hanseatic  period,  and  glorious  struggles  in  their 
defence.  The  City  of  Peter  typifies  Modern 
Muscovy,  sumptuous  and  sprightly,  affording 
days  of  sight-seeing  pleasure.     Moscow  shelters 


10  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

the  Kremlin,  and  storehouses  of  jewels,  enamels, 
carvings  and  argenterie.  The  old  capital  pre- 
sents rare  vistas  of  towers  and  thronged  streets, 
of  devotional  demonstrations  and  commercial 
mannerisms  absolutely  different  from  those  of  the 
rest  of  Europe.  The  traveller  who  tastes  Mos- 
cow first  will  require  an  aperitif  to  enjoy  other 
Continental  cities;  he  who  already  knows  the 
metropoli  of  Europe  will  forget  their  tame 
mediocrity  In  remembering  the  Heart  of  Russia. 
Rybinsk,  Yaroslavl,  and  other  Upper  Volga  cities 
are  pure  types  of  Great  Russian  municipalities, 
hedged  about  by  historic  legend,  crowned  by 
monasteries  of  unbelievable  beauty,  and  bordered 
by  the  tranquil  Volga.  Journeying  from  the  Fair 
Town,  Nizhni  Novgorod,  to  Astrakhan,  one  enters 
still  another  world.  Mosques  and  Tatars,  crafts 
of  the  East,  and  more  strange  customs  make  up 
the  picture.  The  Caucasus  and  the  Crimea  rival 
each  other  in  majesty  of  mountain,  gorge  and  sea. 
Odessa  is  worth  visiting  to  remark  its  activities 
as  the  chief  Black  Sea  port,  and  its  attractions 
as  a  handsome,  cultured  city.  Kiev  is  Kiev,  spe- 
cial and  bewildering.  The  age  and  romance  of 
Russia  are  the  woof  of  the  fabric  in  the  Mecca 
of  the  Empire.  Warsaw  has  the  vivacity  and 
good     looks     of     a     Polish     grande     dame.     It 


INTRODUCTION  11 

Is  an  imperial  city,  expressive  and  magnetic. 
The  American  or  British  stay-at-home  or  trav- 
eller whose  imagination  has  veiled  Russia  in  a 
mystery  of  snowy  wastes,  of  exiles  on  the  long 
trek,  of  troikas  wolf-pursued,  and  Nihilistic  ad- 
ventures, will  undergo  an  evolution  of  ideas  if 
he  will  board  a  steamer  at  New  York,  or  Hull, 
or  London,  and  sail  to  the  welcoming  harbours 
of  Libau,  Helsingfors,  or  St.  Petersburg,  to  ver- 
ify for  himself  the  peculiar  and  ruddy  charms  of 
the  Tourist's  Russia. 

R.  K.  W. 

Nice,  Alpes-Maritimes. 
March  third,  1912. 


CHAPTER  I 

Passports  —  Customs  —  Transportation  —  Railways  — 
Cabs  —  Trams 


Passports. 

No  single  obstacle  has  had  more  influence  in 
deterring  tourist  traffic  to  Russia  than  the  pass- 
port bogie.  This  much  misunderstood  document 
is  required  merely  as  an  evidence  of  identity,  and 
will  be  found  quite  as  convenient  in  calling  for 
mail  or  gaining  entrance  to  certain  institutions, 
as  it  is  considered  necessary  by  the  Government 
of  Russia.  The  Russians,  who  are  more  formal 
in  such  matters  than  the  rest  of  Europe,  demand 
the  presentation  of  the  passport  at  the  frontier 
and  upon  taking  lodgings,  but  this  requirement  in 
no  way  obstructs  the  admittance  of  properly  ac- 
credited travellers. 

Americans  apply  to  the  State  Department  for 
an  application  blank.  When  this  form  is  filled 
out  and  the  signature  attested  by  a  notary,  the 
request  for  a  passport  is  returned  to  Washington 
with  one  dollar.     Upon  receipt  of  the  document, 

12 


PASSPORTS  AND  CUSTOMS  13 

duly  sealed  and  signed,  it  must  be  vised  by  a  Rus- 
sian Consul,  whose  fee  will  be  one  dollar  and 
fifty  cents.  There  are  Russian  Consulates  in 
New  York,  Chicago  and  San  Francisco.  If  the 
passport  is  obtained  through  a  tourist  agency 
or  by  an  American  embassy  abroad,  the  cost  may 
be  doubled  or  quadrupled.  The  United  States 
passport  is  valid  for  two  years  and  may  be  made 
out  to  include  all  the  members  of  an  immediate 
family. 

In  England  the  fees  of  the  Government  and 
Russian  Consul  are  approximately  three  shillings 
and  six  shillings  each.  Passports  may  be  used 
for  five  years.  One  passport  is  sufficient  for  an 
immediate  family  with  their  servants,  as  well  as 
tutors  and  governesses,  if  all  are  British  subjects. 

If  the  tourist  takes  steamer  to  Russia,  his  pass- 
port must  be  handed  to  the  purser  with  the  tickets. 
It  will  be  returned  when  it  has  been  examined  at 
the  entry  port,  and  baggage  has  been  passed  by 
the  customs  officials.  If  the  railway  is  the  means 
of  transport,  a  gendarme  will  take  up  the  docu- 
ment at  the  frontier  customs  station,  returning 
it  after  the  baggage  has  been  opened,  or  in  the 
train  before  departure. 

In  any  case,  the  traveller  must  be  patient.  It 
is   well   to   assume   a   tranquil   attitude   of   mind 


14  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

upon  entering  Russia ;  otherwise  one's  pleasure 
may  be  alloyed  by  trifling  delays.  The  Slav's  of- 
ficial movements  are  cumbered  with  formalities 
which  seem  unnecessary  to  the  quicker-thinking 
and  acting  Westerner.  However,  on  quay  or  plat- 
form, there  is  always  something  of  novel  interest 
to  note  in  the  dress  or  manners  of  one's  new 
friends.  A  tour  in  Russia  may  present  opportu- 
nities for  learning  lessons  of  repose  which  are 
only  too  rare  in  these  impatient,  hurried  times. 

At  the  hotel  patronised  by  the  traveller  in  each 
town,  the  manager  will  take  the  passport  to  be 
registered  at  police  headquarters,  after  which  it 
will  probably  lie  in  the  hotel  safe  until  asked  for 
in  case  of  need,  or  on  departure.  Twenty-four 
hours'  notice  should  be  given  before  leaving. 

The  fee  for  stamping  an  arriving  passport  is 
twenty  to  forty  kopeks,*  but  the  hotel  is  entitled 
to  a  reasonable  gratuity  for  attending  to  the  mat- 
ter. As  a  rule,  if  the  guest  shows  himself  familiar 
with  the  legal  fee,  not  more  than  a  ruble  will  be 
charged.  Upon  taking  final  departure  from  the 
country,  the  hotel  must  be  instructed  to  have  the 
passport  so  countersigned  as  to  constitute  per- 
mission to  cross  the  frontier.     There  is  a  further 


*  Twenty    cents    American,   or   ten   pence    English.    See 
money  tables. 


PASSPORTS  AND  CUSTOMS  15 

small  fee  for  this,  usually  about  scvcntj-five  ko- 
peks. The  precautions  seem  superfluous  to  the 
casual  tourist,  but  the  rules  apply  as  well  to  the 
citizen  or  the  foreigner  of  long  residence,  and  act 
as  a  proper  restraint  upon  criminals  and  escaping 
debtors.  By  the  time  the  tourist  says  good-bye 
to  Russia,  his  horror  of  the  "  passport  system  " 
will  have  turned  to  tolerance  for  a  trivial  for- 
mality. 

Customs. 

As  the  proceedings  vary  somewhat  at  different 
customs  stations,  one  can  safely  follow  the  lead  of 
other  passengers.  It  is  the  custom  to  descend 
with  hand  baggage  and  requisition  a  porter  to  as- 
sist with  registered  luggage,  for  a  fee  of  ten  ko- 
peks. Whatever  clothes,  personal  belongings,  or 
books  are  required  for  the  trip  are  not  dutiable. 
A  hundred  cigars  are  entered  free,  and  also  a  cam- 
era, if  it  has  been  used.  Foreign  playing  cards 
are  confiscated,  as  their  manufacture  in  Russia 
is  a  Government  monopoly,  the  proceeds  of  which 
are  devoted  to  certain  charities. 

Transportation. 

A  steamer  sails  fortnightly  from  New  York  di- 
rect for  the  Baltic  port  of  Libau.     This  service 


16  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

of  the  Russian-American  Line,  whose  main  office 
is  at  27  Broadway,  New  York,  is  in  itself  an  in- 
centive to  go  to  Russia.  The  standard  of  its  first- 
class  passenger  accommodation  is  unusually  high. 
The  cuisine  introduces  succulent  dishes  which 
sharpen  the  appetite  for  a  still  more  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  Muscovite  menus.  The  Russian 
is  at  his  best  when  he  is  host;  the  attentiveness 
of  the  officers  and  crew  on  these  steamers  gives 
the  passenger  a  foretaste  of  Russian  hospitality 
and  good  service,  and  insures  a  crossing,  the  end 
of  which  is  deplored.  The  navigators  are  usually 
stalwart  natives  of  the  Baltic  provinces,  well 
schooled  in  the  handling  of  a  ship. 

Eight  or  nine  days  out  of  New  York,  the 
steamer  ties  up  at  the  Rotterdam  quay  to  coal, 
and  discharge  or  load  cargo.  This  allows  the 
passenger  thirty  to  thirty-six  hours  for  sight- 
seeing in  Holland  or  Belgium.  Or  he  may  wait 
over  at  his  pleasure  for  another  boat  of  the  same 
line,  employing  the  interim  visiting  British  or 
Continental  cities.  At  Rotterdam,  the  English 
traveller  to  Russia  may  also  join  the  steamer, 
which  will  land  him  three  days  later  at  Libau  after 
a  mild  passage  around  the  north  of  Denmark 
and  past  the  indented  coast  of  Sweden.  On  the 
right,   as   the   vessel   approaches   Copenhagen,   is 


PASSPORTS  AND  CUSTOMS  17 

Elsinore  Castle,  which  legend  associates  with 
Hamlet.  Helsingborg,  Sweden,  is  in  plain  view 
across  the  channel.  While  the  steamer  lies  sev- 
eral hours  off  Copenhagen,  it  is  possible  to  ob- 
tain a  cursory  impression  of  the  attractive 
Danish  capital,  though  passengers  are  not  landed 
or  taken  aboard  there. 

The  boats  of  the  Finland  Steamship  Company 
leave  Hull,  England,  every  Wednesday  and  Sat- 
urday, and  offer  a  pleasant  three  or  four-day 
voyage  to  those  who  prefer  to  go  first  to  Abo  or 
Helsingfors,  Finland,  and  later  to  Petersburg. 
The  Finns  are  a  clever,  enterprising  people,  and 
this  service  of  the  Finland  Steamship  Company 
is  exceptionally  well-ordered,  and  even  luxurious. 
The  agents  at  Hull  are  John  Good  and  Sons. 
The  Company  has  an  office  in  New  York  at  15 
State  Street. 

The  United  Shipping  Company  also  run  ex- 
cellent steamers,  leaving  London  Friday  evenings 
foT  Petersburg  direct,  via  the  Kiel  Canal.  Their 
London  office  is  at  108  Fenchurch  Street. 

Those  who  take  the  overland  rail  journey  from 
Rotterdam  or  other  ports  will  enter  Russia  at 
Alexandrowa  or  Wirballen,  proceeding  from  the 
latter  frontier  station  to  St.  Petersburg  and 
other  northern   towns,   and  from   the   former  to 


18  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Warsaw,  Moscow,  or  the  south.  There  are 
through  International  Expresses  to  St.  Peters- 
burg from  Flushing,  Calais,  Ostend,  Rotterdam, 
Copenhagen,  Paris  and  Dresden  by  way  of  Ber- 
lin, and  from  Vienna  by  way  of  Warsaw.  War- 
saw is  ten  hours  by  Nord  Express  from  Berlin,  and 
about  twenty-five  hours  from  Moscow.  By  fast  ex- 
press, St.  Petersburg  is  fifty-two  hours  from 
London  via  Ostend,  forty-six  hours  from  Paris, 
and  twenty-eight  from  Berlin.  By  Rotterdam 
and  other  routes  the  trip  takes  a  few  hours  longer. 

Russian  Railways. 

Throughout  Russia  the  system  prevails  of  re- 
ducing the  fare  proportionately  as  the  mileage 
increases.  This  advantageous  system  results  in 
very  inexpensive  travel.  First-class  carriages 
are  divided  into  compartments  often  having  places 
for  only  two  passengers,  while  second-class  ac- 
commodation sometimes  resembles,  in  a  measure, 
American  railway  carriages,  though  frequently 
one  finds  cars  arranged  in  compartments  with  a 
side  corridor.  Third-class  in  Russia  is  out  of  the 
question  for  tourists.  First-class  carriages  are 
painted  blue ;  second-class,  tan. 

As   trains   usually   arrive   at   principal   stations 


PASSPORTS  AND  CUSTOMS  19 

twenty  to  thirty  minutes  before  departure,  the 
Russians,  who  are  inordinate  travellers,  take  the 
precaution  to  arrive  early  to  make  sure  of  a 
good  seat.  It  is  the  custom  to  send  ahead  one 
of  the  station  porters  with  the  luggage  to  reserve 
places,  and  to  have  him  remain  in  the  car  while 
his  patron  takes  a  leisurely  glass  of  tea  at  the 
station  buffet.  The  employment  of  the  porter 
is  commended  to  tourists ;  otherwise,  the  inex- 
perienced may  be  caught  in  a  whirlpool  of  human- 
ity struggling  at  one  and  the  same  moment  to 
ascend  the  same  steps  to  the  car,  and  crowd 
through  the  same  narrow  aisle.  The  porter  who 
has  done  his  employer's  fighting  for  him,  and 
guarded  his  possessions  for  perhaps  a  half  hour, 
will  accept  twenty  to  thirty  kopeks  with  smiling 
gratitude. 

Of  the  Russian  porter  paragraphs  might  be 
written  in  eulog3^  He  is  omni-present,  he  never 
over-urges  his  suit,  he  is  always  respectful  and 
never  officious,  except  in  the  assertion  of  the  rights 
of  his  temporary  master,  and  he  rarely  grumbles 
if  the  compensation  is  inadequate,  serving  for  a 
pittance  with  patience  and  energy. 

On  some  of  the  trains,  seats  may  be  reserved  at 
the  station  for  a  small  supplement  in  price.  The 
tickets  are  called  platz  karte.     There  are  sleep- 


20  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

ing  cars  on  the  trains  de  luxe.  A  compartment 
for  two  persons  in  a  first-class  carriage  may  be 
reserved  from  nine  p.  m.  to  nine  a.  m.  by  pay- 
ing a  supplement  of  six  rubles,*  the  regular  rate 
per  reservation  over-night  costing  from  one  ruble 
fifty  per  person.  Bedding  may  be  hired  from  the 
conductor.  It  is  much  more  convenient  and  in- 
expensive to  carry  a  rug,  a  pillow,  and  towels. 
This  is  so  much  the  custom  that  bedding  is  never 
furnished  free  on  trains  or  river  boats,  and  even 
the  beds  of  provincial  hotels  may  lack  sufficient 
covering. 

Thirty-six  pounds  (one  pood)  of  baggage  is 
carried  free  in  the  baggage  car.  Baggage  should 
be  registered  at  least  fifteen  minutes  before  train 
time.  Only  a  small  fee  is  charged,  unless  bag- 
gage is  over-weight. 

The  broad  racks  above  the  car  seats  groan  with 
the  weight  of  multitudinous  bags  and  bundles, 
thanks  to  the  European  niggardliness  in  free  bag- 
gage allowance.  The  foreigner  is  frequently 
entertained  by  vociferous  contentions  as  to  the 
just  apportionment  of  space,  and  is  no  less  in- 
structed in  certain  childish  Russian  traits.  How- 
ever, there  is  rarely  any  show  of  ill  temper,  and, 

*One  ruble  =  fifty  cents  =  two  shillings.  One  hundred 
kopeks  =  one  ruble. 


PASSPORTS  AND  CUSTOMS  21 

when  all  is  adjusted,  the  atmosphere  clears  with 
no  trace  of  bad  feeling. 

On  long  journeys,  tickets  are  usually  taken  up 
and  a  check  given  in  return.  Otherwise,  the  mas- 
ter conductor,  preceded  by  a  brakeman  or  guard, 
and  attended  by  an  assistant,  may  be  expected  at 
frequent  intervals.  Local  trains  make  about 
forty  versts,  or  twenty-six  miles,  an  hour ;  express 
trains  sixty  versts,  or  forty  miles.  A  guard 
passes  through  the  train  to  announce  the  dura- 
tion of  the  stop  at  each  large  station.  These 
delays  are  tedious  until  one  learns  to  enjoy  the 
relaxation  of  descending  to  the  platform  or  ad- 
jacent streets,  to  take  a  stroll,  have  a  bite  to 
eat,  or  send  a  post  card.  A  porter  should  be  left 
to  watch  baggage. 

The  buffets  in  the  depots  are  of  almost  uniform 
excellence,  and  are  patronised  at  every  opportu- 
nity by  the  Russians,  who  have  apparently  insati- 
able appetites  when  travelling.  In  the  large 
stations  there  is  always  a  buffet  of  hot  dishes. 
If  one  chooses  a  cutlet  or  a  portion  of  chicken, 
it  is  served  at  a  well-appointed  table  with  veg- 
etables and  bread  included.  A  satisfying  repast 
may  thus  be  ordered  at  a  cost  of  fifty  kopeks  up. 
There  are  invariably  tasty  sandwiches  of  caviar, 
egg,  fish,  or  meat  at  five  kopeks  each. 


22  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Before  partaking  of  even  the  humblest  "  snack," 
the  men  pause  at  the  bar  to  toss  off  a  rumka 
of  vodka,  or  rye  brandy.  Good  milk  and  beer 
are  obtainable,  but  water  should  be  shunned 
everywhere  in  Russia,  with  few  exceptions. 

Venders  of  wild  strawberries  and  raspberries 
offer  their  crimson  wares  on  the  platform.  Beg- 
gars, and  officers,  long-haired  priests,  and  farmers 
in  kaftan  and  top-boots,  a  Lithuanian  mother  with 
her  brood,  or  some  Tatar  women  in  balloon  petti- 
coats, saunter  back  and  forth  until  the  gong 
warns.  Even  at  one  bell,  no  one  hurries,  for  there 
are  still  fifteen  minutes  to  wait.  When  the  sta- 
tion master  strikes  the  clapper  twice,  one  has  five 
minutes  to  entrain,  but  at  three  bells  even  the 
daring  make  a  rush  for  the  car  steps.  The  en- 
gine whistles,  and  the  train  pulls  slowly  out. 

Returning  to  the  car,  the  traveller  will  often 
find  the  little  window  tables,  which  are  so  con- 
venient a  feature  in  both  the  second  and  first-class 
carriages,  occupied  by  tea  drinking  parapher- 
nalia, hot  water  having  been  obtained  at  the 
restaurant.  Almost  every  travelling  Russian  o-f 
the  middle  and  lower  class  carries  a  tea-kettle, 
if  not  a  samovar.  The  opportunity  of  refresh- 
ing themselves  with  the  cherished  beverage  is  an- 
ticipated from  grand-mother  to  infant. 


PEASANT    GIRL    IN    TIIK    FIELD 


\ 


PASSPORTS  AND  CUSTOMS  2S 

If  the  tourist  patronises  only  the  fastest  ex- 
presses, and  scorns  second-class,  he  may  be  spared 
experience  which  will  be  interpreted  as  annoy- 
ances, or  opportunities  for  observation,  accord- 
ing to  his  temperament  and  interest  in  humanit3\ 

The  railway  time  throughout  Russia  is  that  of 
St.  Petersburg,  except  in  Finland  and  Asia,  and 
the  station  clocks  usually  give  this  and  not  local 
time.  This  leads  to  a  certain  confusion  in  catch- 
ing trains,  so  that  caution  is  necessary  in  deter- 
mining the  exact  difference  between  town  and  rail- 
road clocks.  The  trains  are  not  often  late.  In- 
deed, they  make  their  way  in  so  leisurely  a  man- 
ner that  there  would  be  little  or  no  excuse  for 
them  if  they  were. 

The  roads  are  usually  government  owned  and 
operated,  and  give,  in  most  respects,  a  thoroughly 
satisfactory  service. 

Cabs. 

Frequently  the  railway  stations  lie  far  from  the 
centre  of  the  town.  But  cabs  are  as  numerous 
as  they  are  cheap,  and  en  route  for  the  hotel  one 
catches  a  blurred  impression  of  the  outlying 
streets,  if  that  anomaly  of  anomalies,  the  swift 
cab  horse,  is  not  too  ambitious  to  sustain  the 
reputation  of  his  breed.     "  Take  care !  "  warn  the 


M  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

towsled  drivers,'* and  their  "  fares  "  may  well  take 
care  too,  if  the  vehicle  be  one  of  the  diminutive 
droskies  without  a  back.  In  the  larger  cities,  the 
cabs  are  very  comfortable,  with  the  exception  that 
those  in  Moscow  are  too  narrow,  though  well- 
cushioned  and  rubber-tired.  The  horses  are  re- 
markably good  looking  and  usually  spirited. 
Their  harness  is  decked  with  ornamental  chains, 
and  they  pull  by  means  of  the  wooden  arched 
duga,  which  is  attached  to  the  ends  of  the  shaves. 

A  one-horse  cab  may  be  hired  almost  anywhere 
in  the  Empire  for  sixty  to  eighty  kopeks  an  hour, 
though  natives  will  boast  that  they  pay  not  more 
than  forty  to  fifty  kopeks.  A  short  drive  of  fif- 
teen to  twenty  minutes  costs  about  thirty  kopeks, 
and  the  incident  is  recalled  when  three  persons 
drove  in  Warsaw  from  the  Hotel  Bristol  to  the 
Theatre  Square  for  the  equivalent  of  six  pence 
or  twelve  cents,  plus  a  paltry  tip,  called  in  Rus- 
sian "  tea  money."  There  are  also  more  pre- 
tentious carriages  to  hire,  concerning  which  the 
hotel  porter  will  give  information. 

Like  the  railway  porter,  the  Russian  isvoschik 
is  worthy  of  special  mention  as  a  national  charac- 
ter. He  is  a  pure  Slav  type,  though  his  more 
aristocratic  confrere,  the  private  coachman,  may 
be  a  Tatar.     His  thick  coarse  hair  is  cropped  low 


PASSPORTS  AND  CUSTOMS  25 

in  the  neck,  a  hat  with  squat  crown  is  crushed 
down  to  his  ears,  and  his  broad  face  peers  from 
under  the  curled-up  brim  with  a  calm  serenity 
which  is  not  without  its  measure  of  cunning.  He 
sits  his  box  in  the  cab-rank,  stoical  but  alert. 
His  long  blue  armyak  is  generously  gathered  at 
the  line  where  the  skirt  joins  the  body,  and  a  gay 
tinselled  belt  satisfies  his  native  love  of  gaudy 
colours.  This  ample  garment,  worn  Winter  and 
Summer,  is  so  padded  from  shoulders  to  hip  as 
to  render  corpulent  the  leanest  of  cabbies.  Per- 
haps, having  driven  all  the  previous  night,  he 
nods  on  his  seat,  but  let  a  prospective  fare  ap- 
proach the  curb  —  he  is  awake  and  bidding  for 
patronage  as  noisily  as  his  fellows.  Like  flies 
about  a  jam  pot,  they  buzz  and  beg  and  blandish. 
"  Pazholst ! "  is  their  oft-repeated  plea.  "  A 
ruble,"  you  bid,  holding  up  one  finger.  "  One 
and  a  half,"  is  counterbid.  The  qualifications  of 
a  particular  steed  are  enumerated.  You  are  in- 
vited to  examine  the  superior  upholstery  of 
another's  vehicle.  If  you  look  with  sidewise 
favour  on  Ivan's  suit,  Klim  derides  his  rival's 
equipage,  and  disparages  his  horse.  At  last  you 
choose  Nicolai  and  enter  his  drosky,  considerably 
flustered,  but  exultant,  for  you  have  closed  the 
bargain  at  your  own  figure.     The  chosen  isvos- 


26  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

chik  wraps  his  voluminous  skirts  about  him,  sits 
down  on  the  ends  of  his  reins,  slaps  the  worsted 
lengths  across  the  back  of  his  impatient  horse,  and 
drives  off  as  if  pursued  by  an  evil  spirit.  After- 
wards it  is  mystifying  with  what  frequency 
Nicolai's  simple,  faithful  face  greets  you  at  the 
hotel  door.  His  sixth  sense  is  exercised  in  dis- 
covering your  goings-out  and  comings-in.  One 
day,  you  reward  him  with  a  hot  pirozhka  from  a 
passing  basket,  and,  after  that,  no  isvoschik 
drives  so  fast  or  warns  infringing  vehicles  so 
imperiously  as  your  own  particular,  likeable 
Nicolai. 

Trams. 

Thirty  Russian  cities  are  served  by  trams.  The 
routes  are  usually  numbered  instead  of  named. 
The  Moscow  electrics  are  notably  good. 


CHAPTER  II 

Hotels  —  Cuisine  —  Restaurants      and     Gardens  —  Theatres 

and  Concerts  —  Races  —  Sports  —  Dances  — 

General  Information 


Hotels. 

The  good-class  Russian  hotel  is  roomy,  well- 
furnished,  and  often  less  expensive  than  inferior 
hotels  in  other  countries.  The  beds  are  good; 
there  is  usually  a  couch  and  a  writing  table  in 
the  guest's  room,  and  lounging  chairs.  A  rather 
primitive  lavatory  basin  sometimes  occupies  one 
corner.  The  air  of  the  room  is  invariably  home- 
like. 

The  rates  are  moderate  considering  the  accom- 
modation (Rs.2.50  for  a  fine  double  room  in 
Libau,  Rs.4.00  in  Petersburg,  Rs.6.00  for  a  suite 
in  Moscow,  Rs.4.50  for  real  luxury  in  Warsaw), 
but  extras  are  sometimes  charged  which  may 
slightly  augment  the  cost.  In  the  provinces,  bed 
linen  may  be  charged  apart,  and,  in  rare  cases, 
candles  and  service.  In  each  room,  there  is  us- 
ually a  card  showing  its  rate.     Before  engaging 

87 


28  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

accommodation  it  is  best  to  state  what  one  is 
willing  to  pay. 

In  all  the  larger  cities,  there  are  managers  and 
guides  in  the  hotels  who  speak  French,  German, 
and  often  English.  With  a  Russian-English 
Manual  of  Conversation  like  Marlborough's,*  one 
will  find  little  or  no  inconvenience  in  travelling  into 
the  interior  or  down  the  Volga,  where  little  but 
Russian  is  understood. 

The  Russian  is  always  frankly  anxious  to  please 
and  assist,  and  is  never  indifferent  to  a  tourist's 
need  of  help.  From  the  hall-porter  in  frock-coat 
to  the  man-servant  in  baggy  red  trousers  and 
boots  to  his  knees,  the  watch-word  is  courtesy. 
Tips  are  rarely  given  grudgingly  in  a  Russian 
hotel,  even  if  one  must  sometimes  accept  the  spirit 
for  the  rather  tardy  deed.  Twenty-five  to  thirty 
kopeks  is  sufficient  gratuity  to  give  immediate  at- 
tendants for  two  or  three  days'  service.  If 
hitherto  unseen  faces  appear  at  departure,  they 
will  be  easily  appeased  by  receiving  five  or  ten 
kopeks  apiece. 

Pensions,  as  they  exist  in  other  countries,  are 
rare  in  Russia.     Furnished  rooms  may  be  hired 


*  Published  by  E.  Marlborough  and  Co.,  51  Old  Bailey, 
London.  Price,  two  shillings.  On  sale  at  Brentano's,  New 
York. 


GENERAL  INFORMATION  29 

for    about    thirty    rubles    a   month,    exclusive    of 
linen. 

Cuisine. 

The  lavish  natures  of  the  Russians  demand  a 
groaning  board,  and  the  well-to-do  will  confess 
that  they  eat  extravagantly  and  over-much.  The 
soups  are  elaborate,  the  sauces  rich  in  butter,  the 
pates  savory,  the  meats  choice  and  highly-sea- 
soned, the  desserts  very  sweet.  The  result  is  a 
cuisine  which  tempts  the  normal  palate  to  indis- 
cretion. The  menus  are  so  varied  that  any  taste 
may  be  gratified,  many  European  dishes  being 
found  upon  them. 

An  afternoon  at  a  Moscow  home  is  remembered 
for  its  prodigal  hospitality.  At  the  tea  hour  we 
sat  down  at  a  table  laden  with  fruits  and  berries 
from  all  Russia.  There  were  three  sorts  of  melon 
from  Little  Russia,  a  great  bowl  of  pears,  com- 
potes of  Crimean  grapes,  baskets  of  cherries,  and 
mounds  of  raspberries  and  strawberries  heaped 
on  green  leaves.  A  half-dozen  varieties  of  wines 
from  South  Russian  vineyards  were  offered  with 
the  fruit.  As  we  sat  over  the  rainbow  table,  a 
maid  arranged  the  samovar,  or  tea  machine,  by 
the  window.  We  regarded  dubiously  the  prepara- 
tions for  further  indulgence  in  good  things,  but, 


30  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

loath  to  offend,  crossed  to  a  second  feast.  Here, 
with  the  famed  "  yellow  tea  "  were  served  dainty 
cakes  and  bonbons,  with  jams  of  pineapple,  water- 
melon, blackberry  and  peach,  and  Russian  li- 
queurs and  cordials.  In  vain  we  protested;  our 
plates  and  tea  glasses  were  filled  repeatedly,  and, 
in  truth,  each  delicacy  seemed  more  inviting  than 
the  last.  So  we  nibbled  and  tasted  and  sipped, 
until  good  judgment  took  wings  before  the  im- 
pelling hospitality  of  our  hosts  and  the  entice- 
ments of  the  spread. 

We  were  ingenuously  asked  if  we  cared  for 
caviare,  and  unsuspectingly  replied  in  the  affirm- 
ative. Behind  us,  maids  were  moving  in  and  out, 
and  when  we  arose  we  understood  their  activity. 
The  table  we  had  devastated  bloomed  again. 
There  were  platters  of  smoked  raw  salmon  and 
marinated  herring,  and  a  fish  from  the  Volga 
which  had  been  dried  in  the  sun ;  and  a  portion 
of  salted  black  caviare  and  another  of  the  fresh 
grey  roe  set  in  a  bowl  of  ice.  The  breast  of  a 
smoked  goose  dominated  one  end  of  the  board, 
a  brace  of  cold  roast  grouse,  the  other.  The 
servants  in  bright  dresses,  heavy  neck  beads  and 
head  gear  resembling  a  starched  coronet,  appeared 
with  dishes  of  ham  prepared  over  the  smoke  of 
burning  beech  leaves,  and  a  salad  of  the  cherished 


GENERAL  INFORMATION  31 

cucumber.  Strange  cheeses  made  their  appear- 
ance with  game  pates,  and  last,  but  not  the  least 
appetising,  a  culinary  mystery  consisting  of 
minced  meat,  rice,  and  egg  baked  within  a  crusty 
loaf.  Discretion  fled;  we  partook  recklessly  as 
the  delicious  viands  were  presented  at  our  elbow. 
The  beverage  which  foamed  in  our  glasses  was  rye 
kwass,  made  from  fermented  black  bread ;  there 
was  vodka  Monopolnaia,  No.  1  for  the  men. 
Glace  fruits,  Russian  cigarettes  and  black  coffee 
terminated  a  banquet  called  by  our  friends  "  after- 
noon tea." 

The  zakuska  of  the  Russians  is  an  elaborated 
hors  d'oeuvre  taken  standing  before  luncheon  or 
dinner.  It  consists  of  an  array  of  fish,  viands, 
salads,  caviare,  and  mushrooms,  pickled,  raw  or 
cooked.  At  a  restaurant  buffet,  a  whole  sturgeon, 
and  a  suckling  pig  boiled  in  milk  may  be  displayed. 
Old  Roquefort,  Swiss,  Camembert  and  Chester 
cheese  beaten  to  a  cream  with  good  port  wine  is 
another  zakuska  dainty,  to  be  eaten  with  black 
bread  and  Finland  butter.  Liqueurs  of  bayberry 
and  carraway  are  served,  and,  of  course,  the  in- 
evitable vodka,  which  should  disappear  with  one 
fling  of  the  wrist  to  be  entirely  comme  il  faut. 
The  best  Russian  brandy  is  made  of  rye,  and  con- 
tains forty  per  cent,  alcohol.     It  is  a  pure  white 


32  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

beverage,  innocently  resembling  water.  Its  pro- 
duction, good  and  bad,  is  controlled  by  the  gov- 
ernment. 

A  restaurant  dinner,  beginning  with  zakuska 
(25-50k.  extra)  proceeds  with  soup,  which  may 
be  borsch  made  with  meat  and  cabbage,  or  schi 
of  boiled  beet-root.  There  is  also  ukha,  or  fish- 
soup  and  others  made  of  cucumber,  and  served 
with  sour  cream,  which  do  not  at  first  appeal  to 
all  palates.  Whatever  the  potage,  one  may  al- 
ways expect  the  crisp  pasties  which  accompany  it. 

The  sterlet  is  the  fish  most  prized  in  Russia.  It 
is  a  refined  species  of  sturgeon,  a  spotted  fawn  in 
colour,  with  a  long  sharp  nose.  It  is  often  served 
with  a  red  sauce.  The  dish  of  sterlet,  sturgeon, 
salmon,  sig,  or  sudak  may  be  varied  by  a  dump- 
ling containing  chopped  fish  and  cabbage  and  ac- 
companied by  a  fish  bouillon.  This  last  is  pecul- 
iar to  Moscow  and  is  called  rastigai.  Roasts  or 
cutlets  are  sometimes  served  with  dwarf  salted  cu- 
cumbers which  the  Russians  of  all  classes  eat  with 
almost  every  meal.  Buckwheat  dressing,  fried  in 
gravy,  accompanies  roast  pork  and  mutton.  A 
Tatar  dish  called  schachlik  is  composed  of  skew- 
ered bits  of  mutton  and  bacon  roasted  before  a 
spit.  It  is  not  the  custom  to  serve  cooked  veg- 
etables with  meats  and  game,  but  rather  as  a  dish 


GENERAL  INFORMATION  33 

apart.  The  tree  partridge,  or  rcbchik,  is  so  abun- 
dant in  the  Siberian  forests  that,  though  exceed- 
ingly good  eating,  they  sell  in  the  markets  for 
thirty  kopeks  a  pair.  They  are  somewhat  like 
grouse,  though  slightly  bitter,  and  are  very  often 
found  on  the  tables  of  restaurants  and  private 
homes.  Salads  and  dressings  are  among  the  mas- 
ter-pieces of  the  Russian  cook,  but  desserts  are  apt 
to  be  tasteless,  in  common  with  most  Russian 
sweets.  Ices  and  fruit  jellies  are  usually  found 
on  the  menu. 

It  is  unwise  to  drink  water  in  most  Russian 
cities,  Moscow  being  an  exception.  As  substi- 
tutes, there  are  mineral  waters ;  good  and  inex- 
pensive wines  made  in  the  Caucasus,  the  Crimea, 
and  Bessarabia ;  beer  and  kwass.  The  light  beer, 
or  peevo,  of  Riga  is  obtainable  almost  everywhere. 
On  the  Volga,  the  most  renowned  brew  is  Jhiguli 
beer,  made  in  Samara,  and  sold  at  twenty  to 
thirty  kopeks  a  bottle.  But  the  most  refreshing 
Russian  beverage  is  called  kwass.  Made  from 
bread,  it  is  dark  brown,  from  apples,  amber,  and 
from  small  fruits  or  berries,  red.  It  is  fermented 
by  yeast  only,  and  is  non-intoxicating.  There  is 
no  more  welcome  sight  on  a  warm  day  than  a 
dewy  crystal  pitcher  of  frothy  red  kwass,  served 
at  cellar  temperature. 


54  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

To  taste  pirozhki  at  their  best,  one  must  go  to 
Phillpov's  in  St.  Petersburg  or  Moscow.  These 
bakery  establishments  are  frequented  for  light 
luncheons.  The  pirozhki  may  be  ordered  for  im- 
mediate consumption,  or  taken  away,  hot  and 
odorous,  in  a  pasteboard  box.  They  cost  about 
five  kopeks  each.  The  favourite  dumplings  are 
made  with  centres  of  meat,  cabbage,  rice,  or  jam. 
They  are  fried  an  appetising  brown  by  being 
dropped  in  hot  fat  or  oil. 

The  house  of  Eliseev,  in  both  Petersburg  and 
Moscow,  rivals,  if  it  does  not  excel,  the  great 
comestible  shops  of  Europe  and  America.  Ber- 
rin,  Krafft,  Conradi  and  Abrikossov  are  among 
the  best  confectioners  in  the  capital.  The  latter 
has  also  a  shop  in  Moscow,  as  has  Einem.  The 
celebrated  dried  fruits  of  Kiev  are  sold  by  Bala- 
bukha  in  both  Petersburg  and  Kiev.  All  the 
larger  cities  have  good  patisserie  shops  where 
afternoon  tea  is  served  a  la  Russe. 

Restaurants  and  Gardens. 

The  great  number  of  large  restaurants  in  the 
principal  cities  causes  one  to  wonder  if  the  Rus- 
sian ever  lunches  or  dines  at  home.  No  matter 
how  extensive  the  establishment,  it  is  crowded  at 
meal  hours,  as  well  as  for  late,  very  late,  suppers. 


GENERAL  INFORMATION  35 

What  seems  to  the  EngHsh  or  American,  an  ex- 
cess of  waiters  is  in  attendance.  Sometimes  they 
wear  white  suits  with  bright  silk  sashes.  The 
proprietors  are  frequently  French,  German,  or 
Italian,  and  the  menus  reflect  their  nationality. 

One  pays  about  Rs.1.50  for  luncheon,  and 
Rs.2.00  for  dinner  at  the  more  pretentious  res- 
taurants, but  a  satisfactory,  well  served  luncheon 
may  be  had  at  many  places  for  75ks.,  dinner, 
R.1.00.  In  Petersburg,  among  high  priced  es- 
tablishments outside  of  the  principal  hotels,  are 
Donon's,  Pivato's,  The  Bear  and  Cubat ;  less  ex- 
pensive but  very  good,  Dominique,  Soloviov,  and 
Palkine.  In  Moscow,  the  Slaviansky  Bazaar 
(Hotel),  and  the  Ermitage  restaurants  are  noted 
first-class  establishments,  while  there  are  several 
typical  Russian  traktirs,  like  the  Bolshaia  Mos- 
kovskaia  Gostinitsa  (Great  Moscow  Hotel), 
Tiestov's  and  Praga's. 

At  the  night  restaurants,  so  large  a  feature  of 
Russian  life,  especially  in  winter,  the  price  of  an 
elaborate  dinner  is  about  Rs.3.00.  A  pro- 
gramme of  music  and  dancing  proceeds  while  the 
guests  sit  over  the  dinner,  and,  later,  over  the  a 
la  carte  supper  table.  The  pieces  de  resistance  of 
the  amusements  are  reserved  for  the  early  hours 
of  morning,  for  the  Russian  often  refuses  to  for- 


36  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

sake  his  merry-making  until  dawn.  In  this  re- 
spect, as  in  others,  he  never  does  things  by  halves. 
In  the  environs  of  the  large  cities,  there  are 
gardens  where,  from  eight  p.  m.  to  three  or  four 
A.  M.,  one  may  dine,  see  outdoor  variety,  witness 
an  operetta,  sup  and  enjoy  a  cabaret  show.  The 
quaint  custom  of  "  paying  for  conversations  "  pre- 
vails with  the  Russian  man-about-town.  His  in- 
amorata of  the  moment  sits  with  him  at  tea  or 
over  the  supper  table,  and  entertains  with  trifling 
chatter,  or,  perhaps,  a  song.  In  return  he  gives 
gold  to  the  siren,  or,  possibly,  the  jewel  from  his 
cravat,  if  she  has  pleased  him  uncommon  much. 
As  compensation  for  an  hour  of  glitter  and  banter 
these  birds  of  passage  sometimes  receive  a  palm- 
ful  of  gems  to  deck  their  plumage,  or  a  cheque 
of  staggering  proportions.  She  who  pleases  a 
Russian  pleases  a  generous  child.  The  interview 
at  an  end,  he  rises  from  the  table  and  bids  his 
entertainer  a  polite  adieu. 

Fortunes  find  their  way  to  the  tills  of  these 
night  establishments,  such  as  the  Ermitage  Res- 
taurant, and  its  namesake,  the  Gardens,  at  the 
other  end  of  Moscow,  and  "  Yar,"  in  the  suburbs 
opposite  the  race-track  entrance.  At  the  latter, 
the  coat  checking  privileges  are  said  to  cost  Rs. 
18,000  a  year,  and  to  yield  an  equal  sum  as  profit. 


GENERAL  INFORMATION  37 

The  concierge  of  a  hotel  like  the  very  magnificent 
Metropole,  of  Moscow,  pays  thousands  of  rubles 
annually  for  the  rights  which  accrue  to  his  office. 
In  Winter,  the  three-horse  troikas  speed  over  the 
snow  In  Petersburg  to  the  resorts  of  Samarkand 
and  Jgel's,  where,  until  nearly  dawn,  the  gipsies 
sing  amid  a  rain  of  coins  and  applause. 

Theatres  and  Concerts. 

The  tourist  who  goes  to  Russia  in  the  Summer 
will  find  the  principal  theatres  and  opera  houses 
closed.  Even  in  winter  it  is  often  difficult  to  get 
seats  for  the  best  performances  of  opera  and  bal- 
let, as  they  are  largely  sold  by  subscription. 
The  Theatre  Marie,  St.  Petersburg,  gives  opera, 
the  Theatre  Alexandra,  Russian  drama,  and  the 
Theatre  Michel,  varied  bills  of  Russian  and  for- 
eign works.  The  Nicholas  II  Popular  Theatre 
produces  dramas  and  operas  at  low  rates.  The 
Opera  House  and  two  of  the  most  frequented 
theatres  of  Moscow  are  on  the  Theatre  Place. 
The  Artistic  Theatre  is  internationally  celebrated 
for  the  quality  of  its  performances.  It  was  there 
that  "  The  Blue-Bird  "  had  its  first  production  on 
any  stage.  In  Warsaw  the  opera  is  housed  in  a 
great  building  on  the  Theatre  Square,  which  has 
two  wings  devoted  to  drama  and  variety.     There 


38  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

are  also  imposing  modern  opera  houses  in  Odessa 
and  Kiev. 

Public  concerts  are  frequently  billed  in  the 
parks.  The  tourist  will  be  particularly  inter- 
ested to  hear,  not  only  the  bands  and  orchestras 
composed  of  familiar  instruments,  but  also  orches- 
tras made  up  solely  of  concertina  players,  and 
others  of  the  native  balalaika,  which  is  a  Tatar  in- 
strument resembling  a  zither  in  tone.  Excellent 
concerts  are  given  at  the  Conservatories  of  Music 
in  Petersburg  and  Moscow.  There  is  also  a  na- 
tional society  which  is  organised  to  advance  the 
love  of  music,  and  which  gives  series  of  concerts  in 
many  Russian  cities.  In  the  traktirs,  the  great 
organs  are  a  famous  attraction.  The  singing 
of  the  male  choruses  is  the  most  delightful  treat 
in  Russia.  The  St.  Petersburg  Conservatory  was 
founded  by  Anton  Rubinstein,  and  the  one  at 
Moscow  by  his  brother  Nicholas. 

Races. 

Since  the  Siberian  plains  were  the  home  of  the 
aboriginal  horse,  and  half  the  horse  population 
of  the  world,  or  thirty  million  horses,  inhabit 
Russia,  it  is  fitting  that  a  Russian  city  should  be, 
of  all  racing  centres,  the  one  most  extravagantly 
devoted  to  the  sport.    The  grand-stand  at  the  Mos- 


GENERAL  INFORMATION  39 

cow  track  cost  two  million  rubles,  and  is  not  now 
large  enough  to  seat  the  crowds,  which,  through- 
out the  long  season  from  April  to  August,  daily 
average  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand.  The  prizes 
given  for  the  season's  events  amount  to  nearly 
a  million  rubles.  Over  four  thousand  trotting 
horses  are  usually  in  process  of  training  at  the 
Moscow  Imperial  Trotting  Club.  Each  year, 
about  a  thousand  running  horses  are  raced  at 
Petersburg,  Moscow  and  Warsaw.  Ice  racing  on 
the  Neva  is  one  of  the  capital's  winter  diversions. 
In  1775,  Count  Orlov  crossed  the  English 
thoroughbred  with  the  Russian  to  make  a  breed 
of  racers.  He  paid  sixty  thousand  rubles  for  an 
Arabian,  "  Smetanka,"  which  was  mated  with  a 
Danish  mare.  The  issue  of  their  son,  "  Polkan," 
bred  with  a  Dutch  mare,  was  "  Bars  I."  He  was 
born  in  1784,  had  perfect  form  and  endurance, 
and  the  temperament  of  the  oriental  race.  He 
was  all  Orlov  desired,  and  became  the  ancestor  of 
the  Russian  trotter.  He  bred  seventeen  years  and 
had  eleven  sons.  At  the  fourth  generation  the 
race  was  established.  The  horses  of  the  Orlov 
stud  were  systematically  trained  for  speed  and  en- 
durance, running  ten  to  thirteen  miles  a  day. 

To   guarantee   the  purity   of  the  breed  indef- 
initely, the  Government  purchased  these  stables. 


40  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

The  Imperial  Trotting  stud  descend  from  three 
sons  of  "  Bars  I."  The  characteristics  of  the 
Russian  horse  are  superlative  craftiness  ("  ketra," 
the  Russian  calls  it),  intelligence,  unusual  height, 
Arabian  head  with  great  width  between  the  eyes, 
shoulders  well-placed  and  sufficiently  slanting, 
chest  deep  and  wide,  back  straight  and  long,  ele- 
gant rump,  tail  superb  and  placed  high,  feet 
solid,  and  muscles  and  tendons  clean ;  the  cannon 
bone  is  relatively  short  and  sometimes  tufted. 
When  the  horse  is  of  pure  race,  his  action  is  ele- 
gant, correct,  and  even,  back  and  front.  In  the 
stud-book,  first  quality  racers  must  descend  from 
fourth  generation  pure  Orlovs. 

Nevertheless,  the  most  sensational  winners  on  the 
Russian  track  to-day  are  frequently  Russian- 
American  half-breeds.  "  Niebzgoda,"  an  Imper- 
ial Prize  winner,  was  out  of  an  American  dam, 
"  Nelly  R."  by  a  Russian  horse.  "  Prostee " 
("  Excuse  Me !  ")  had  won  every  race  open  to  her 
in  Russia,  thirty-one  in  all,  and  had  never  been 
beaten  until  the  Fall  of  1911,  when  "  General  H," 
the  redoubtable  American  trotter,  bred  in  Iowa, 
and  "  Bob  Douglass,"  also  an  American  horse,  de- 
feated her  at  St.  Petersburg  for  a  purse  of  Rs. 
20,000.  In  1911,  Prostee  held  the  world's  one  and 
two-mile  ice   records,   the   three-mile  on   ground, 


GENERAL  INFORMATION  41 

and  all  European  records,  except  the  two-mile  on 
ground  which  she  never  ran  in  company  good 
enough  to  make  a  record.  Her  earnings  total 
over  Rs.206,000.  She  is  a  half-breed  out  of 
"  Machiestoe "  by  "  Passe  Rose,"  who  was  im- 
ported from  the  Forest  City  Farm,  Cleveland, 
Ohio.  Count  Wotonzov-Dashkov,  Governor  of 
South  Russia,  has  the  largest  stud  for  the  breed- 
ing of  clear  Russians  and  "  mates,"  or  half-breeds. 
For  ten  years  his  stable  has  been  the  largest  in- 
dividual winner  in  Russia.  Mr.  Frank  Caton,  an 
American,  is  the  Count's  manager.  Mr.  Caton  hag 
been  identified  with  the  Russian  track  for  twenty- 
five  years.  He  and  his  two  sons,  William,  trainer 
of  "  Prostee,"  and  Samuel,  have  driven  more  win- 
ning races  than  any  horsemen  in  Russia. 

Sports. 

The  Russians  are  not  an  athletic  people,  though 
in  wrestling,  and  recently  in  foot-ball,  they  have 
given  a  good  account  of  themselves.  Exhibitions 
in  which  sometimes  a  dozen  wrestlers  participate, 
are  often  given  in  the  summer  gardens  of  the 
Baltic  provinces,  Moscow  and  Warsaw. 

At  the  Easter  fetes  the  crowds  delight  in  tobog- 
ganing down  slippery  inclines,  and  in  swinging 
to  perilous  heights.     Rowing,  swimming,  skittles, 


42  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

pitch  and  toss,  skating,  lawn  tennis  and  badmin- 
ton are  other  popular  diversions. 

Dances. 

Many  festivals  are  enlivened  by  the  steps,  the 
genuflections  and  the  songs  of  the  peasant  dance. 
The  air  of  the  Kamarinsky  is  sounded  by  trumpets, 
while  the  dancers  pass  in  stately  measure.  The 
Kazak  and  the  Vesnianka,  or  Spring  Dance,  are 
often  light-heartedly  tripped  by  village  peasant 
and  city  cousin.  Rural  Russia  is  represented  in 
picturesque  phase  when  young  men  and  maidens 
join  hands  in  the  Khovorod,  or  Choir  Dance,  and 
circle  about  a  bonfire,  improvising  part-songs  to 
words  descended  from  their  forefathers. 

General  Information. —  Permits  to  Photograph. 

Those  who  desire  to  use  their  cameras  in  Rus- 
sia must  obtain  a  permit  to  photograph.  If  one 
is  to  make  a  tour  of  any  length,  the  least  expen- 
sive and  most  convenient  method  is  to  join  the 
Russian  Photographic  Society,  whose  address  is 
Kuznetzky  Most,  Diamgarov  Passage,  Moscow. 
A  postal  order  for  five  rubles  will  bring  a  member- 
ship card,  which  will  entitle  the  holder  to  photo- 
graph freely  in  Russia,  with  the  exception  of 
fortifications,  navy  yards,  railway  bridges  and  im- 
perial domains.     If  preferred,  a  local  permit  may 


THE    OLDEST    IKON    OF    THE    VIRGIN    IN    RUSSIA,    IN 
CATHEDRAL   OF   ST.    SOPHIA,   NOVGOROD 


GENERAL  INFORMATION  43 

be  obtained  at  the  police  headquarters  of  each 
city  visited.  A  letter  from  one's  consul  may  ex- 
pedite matters,  but  in  any  case  the  passport  must 
be  shown.  A  hotel  messenger  can  secure  the  per- 
mit if  the  traveller  wishes  it.  The  fee  asked  at 
headquarters  varies  from  a  ruble  up,  according 
to  the  importance  of  the  town.  In  the  country, 
in  small  towns,  and  on  steamers,  one's  right  to 
photograph  ordinary  sights  will,  in  all  probabil- 
ity, never  be  questioned,  if  no  permit  has  been 
obtained  in  that  vicinity.  Special  authority  must 
be  secured  to  photograph  in  the  Kremlin,  and  in- 
side churches  and  museums.  If  a  polite  gorodo- 
Voy,  or  policeman,  asks  to  see  the  permit,  its  pres- 
entation will  bring  an  immediate  apology. 

Language.* 

An  acquaintance  with  French  and  German  will 
be  most  useful  to  the  one  travelling  in  Russia.  At 
many  hotels  both  will  be  spoken.  In  shops,  Ger- 
man is  more  used  than  French.  As  one  leaves  the 
broad  avenues  for  the  narrower  streets,  and  the 
important  cities  for  the  provinces,  the  need  of 
a  modest  Russian  vocabulary  will  be  more  pro- 
nounced. But  among  one's  travelling  companions 
there  will  often  be  those  who  know  several  lan- 

*  See  under  Hotels. 


44  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

guages.  From  many  months  of  expeTience,  it 
may  be  stated  that  the  language  question  offers 
no  obstacles  worth  considering  to  the  resourceful 
tourist  who  goes  to  Russia.  It  is  advisable  to 
learn  the  Russian  alphabet,  for  convenience  in 
reading  names,  et  cetera. 
Calendar. 

The  Old  Style  of  reckoning  the  days  of  the  year 
is  still  used  in  Russia.  It  is  thirteen  days  be- 
hind New  Style.  Thus  the  twentieth  of  the  month 
according  to  our  calendar  is  the  seventh  in  Rus- 
sia, with  the  exception  of  Finland,  which  uses  the 
New  Style,  only  certain  Russian  holidays  being 
observed  there. 

Including  Sundays,  the  Russians  celebrate  one 
hundred  holidays  out  of  the  year,  among  them. 
New  Year ;  Festival  of  Purification,  February 
second  to  fourth.  Old  Style;  two  weeks  following 
Palm  Sunday ;  Birthday  of  the  Tsar,  May  sixth ; 
Coronation  of  the  Tsar,  May  fourteenth ;  Birth- 
day of  the  Tsaritsa,  May  twenty-fifth ;  Birthday 
of  the  Tsarevich,  July  thirtieth ;  Festival  of  the 
Transfiguration,  August  sixth ;  Festival  of  the  As- 
sumption, August  fifteenth ;  Nativity  of  the  Virgin, 
September  eighth ;  Festival  of  the  Holy  Ikon  of 
the  Kazan  Virgin,  October  twenty-second;  pres- 
entation   of   the   Virgin,    November   twenty-first; 


GENERAL  INFORMATION  45 

Christmas  Holidays,  December  twenty-third  to 
twenty-seventh.  On  these  occasions  there  are 
special  masses  in  the  churches,  and,  sometimes, 
religious  processions. 

Postage. 

Foreign  letter  postage  costs  ten  kopeks  a  half- 
ounce;  a  post  card,  four  kopeks.  Letters  for 
Russia  (domestic  postage)  and  post  cards,  seven 
and  three  kopeks  respectively.  The  hotel  should 
be  consulted  as  to  the  rules  which  govern  the  ex- 
pediting of  registered  mail. 

If  possible,  it  is  well  to  learn  how  to  write  in 
Russian  characters  the  name  of  the  country  to 
which  letters  are  addressed,  to  avoid  the  delay 
consequent  upon  their  going  to  the  official  trans- 
lator before  being  dispatched.  The  Russian  char- 
acters should  be  added  in  the  upper  left  hand 
corner  or  over  the  name  of  the  addressee. 

During  a  long  sojourn  in  Russia  not  one  of  a 
series  of  daily  letters  failed  to  reach  its  destina- 
tion. However,  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  reg- 
ister important  mail.  Discretion  should  be  ob- 
served as  to  expressing  in  letters  opinions  derog- 
atory to  the  Administration.  And  in  this  connec- 
tion it  may  be  added  that  courtesy  and  good  judg- 
ment will  forbid  conversation  in  public  which  ap- 
pears in  the  least  degree  to  criticise,  even  casually, 


46  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

the  Government  or  its  head.  If  tourists  avoid 
this  offence  and  have  their  passports  in  order, 
they  may  pass  as  freely  in  Tsarland  as  elsewhere. 

Telegrams. 

Telegrams   may  be   sent  in  any  language.     In 
excess   of  the  rate,  there  is   a  surtax  of  fifteen 
kopelcs    on    each   message.     A   receipt   is    always 
given  the  sender. 
Money. 

THE    UNIT    OF    MONEY    IS    THE    RUBLE 

1  ruble  =  100  kopeks  =  50c,  =  2s. 

2  kopeks  =  Ic.  =  Jd. 

Gold  coins  —  10  and  5-ruble  pieces. 
Silver— 1  ruble;  50,  25,  20,  15,  10  and  5  kopeks. 
Copper— 5,  3,  2,  1,  kopeks.    Paper— 1,  3,  5,  10,  20,  25,  50, 
100  rubles. 

Drafts,  letters  of  credit,  and  circular  notes  are 
issued  by  American  and  British  banks  on  banks  in 
Russia.  The  American  Express  cheques  are  recom- 
mended. They  are  accepted  at  hotels  in  the 
largest  towns  and  are  cashed  without  discount 
at  the  banking  correspondents  of  the  American 
Express  Company. 
Measures.  Weights. 

MEASURES  WEIGHTS 

1  vershok  =  1.75  inches.  1  zolotnik  =  0.15  oz.  av. 

1  arshine  =  2  ft.  4  in.  1  pound    =  |  Eng.  lb. 

1  sazhen  =  7  ft.  1  pood       =  36  Eng.  lbs. 

1  verst  =  3,500  ft.  =  §  mile.  1  pood      =  40  Russ.  lbs. 
1  dessiatine  =  2.7  acres. 


GENERAL  INFORMATION  47 

The  Russian  Year  Book. 

The  Russian  Year  Book,  compiled  and  edited  by 
Howard  P.  Kennard,  M.  D.,  Author  of  "The 
Russian  Peasant,"  and  published  by  Eyre  and 
Spottiswoode,  Ltd.,  London,  is  a  compendium  of 
statistical  facts  about  Russia  in  English,  the  first 
of  its  kind  ever  issued.  Dr.  Kennard,  a  resident 
of  St.  Petersburg,  is  an  authority  on  Russia  in 
her  relation  to  England  and  America,  as  well  as 
on  Russian  resources  and  activities  in  general. 
His  invaluable  volume  treats  of  Russian  laws  af- 
fecting trade,  the  legal  rights  of  foreigners,  emi- 
gration and  immigration,  natural  resources,  agri- 
culture, mining,  ports  and  shipping,  exports  and 
imports,  trade  reports,  customs  tariff,  finance, 
et  cetera,  and  contains  original  charts  and  dia- 
grams of  interest,  not  only  to  the  English  and 
American  business  man,  but  to  all  students  of 
Russia. 

The  author  acknowledges  courtesies  at  the  hands 
of  Dr.  Kennard,  and  the  assistance  of  the  1912 
Year  Book,  which  has  been  consulted  for  statistics 
relating  to  Russia's  population,  and  other  facts, 
many  of  them  not  obtainable  elsewhere  in  English. 

The  assistance  of  Mr.  John  H.  Snodgrass,  U.  S. 
Consul-General,  Moscow,  is  also  acknowledged 
with  cordial  appreciation. 


CHAPTER  III 

CHRONOLOGY 

In  ten  centuries,  a  few  settlements  on  the  Dniepr 
and  Western  Dwina  have  grown  into  the  Russian 
Empire,  which  covers  an  area  equal  to  four  times 
that  of  Europe  and  is  populated  by  164,000,000 
inhabitants.  The  Slavs  form  two-thirds  of  the 
population,  the  remaining  third  comprising  a 
tangle  of  races.  Two  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
languages  and  dialects  are  spoken  with  the  con- 
fines of  the  Empire. 

Previous  to  the  founding  of  the  Rurik  dynasty, 
nomadic  tribes  had  wandered  and  fought  over  the 
plains  adjacent  to  the  great  rivers  and  seas  of 
the  huge  nameless  tract.  The  Slavs,  who  came 
in  the  third  century  from  the  Carpathian  Moun- 
tains, contended  with  the  Goths  and  the  Huns, 
and  other  hordes  which  had  migrated  west  from 
Asia.  In  the  extreme  north  lived  the  fishing  and 
hunting  tribes  of  the  Finns  and  Choudes.  Along 
the  Black  Sea  were  the  Khazars  and  Bulgars. 
Records  of  the  sixth  century  tell  of  the  existence 
of  a  tribe  called  Poliani,  ancestors  of  the  Poles. 

48 


CHRONOLOGY  49 

Some  of  these  diverse  tribes  drew  together,  es- 
tablished Kiev  in  the  south,  and  Novgorod  in  the 
north  as  centres.  Even  their  untutored  minds  be- 
gan to  comprehend  the  potentialities  of  the  rich 
plains  crossed  by  navigable  rivers  and  bounded 
by  sea  and  mountain.  Recognising  their  own  half- 
savage  incapacity  to  form  and  maintain  an  ade- 
quate government,  they  turned,  like  the  Macedon- 
ians, to  a  Paul.  "  Come  over  and  help  us,"  they 
besought  of  three  Scandinavian  brothers,  Rurik, 
Sineous  and  Truvor.  "  We  have  a  great  country 
where  order  reigneth  not."  Thus,  in  862  three 
vikings  came  as  the  first  sovereigns  of  Russia. 
The  Finns  called  the  new  kings  "  ruotsen "  or 
oarsmen,  because  they  had  paddled  from  Sweden 
in  boats.  In  this  word,  the  name  Russia  had  its 
origin.  The  reigns  of  the  Norman  kings  were 
stormy  enough  in  the  next  few  centuries,  but 
settlements  developed  into  cities  and  principalities 
were  established.  Novgorod  the  Great  became  a 
commercial  centre  and  an  independent  state ;  like- 
wise Kiev.  Vladimir  First  imported  the  Byzantine 
religion  and  baptised  the  nation. 

The  thirteenth  century  brought  the  invasion  of 
Genghis  —  Khan  and  his  hordes,  with  their  sub- 
sequent domination  of  Russia.  The  victories  of 
the   sainted  Alexander  of  the  Neva  also  distin- 


50  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

guished  this  age.  Dmitri  of  the  Don  conquered 
the  Tatars  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  years  after 
their  first  victory  under  Genghis. 

Ivan  III  was  the  true  founder  of  the  Russian 
Empire,  and,  under  his  son,  Moscow  became  the 
centre  of  the  kingdom.  Ivan  IV,  called  The 
Terrible,  brought  under  submission  Tatar  Kazan 
on  the  Volga,  Astrakhan  on  the  Caspian,  Siberia, 
and  the  Cossack  tribes.  In  his  reign,  the  first 
English  traders  come  to  Arkhangel,  then  the  only 
port  on  the  north  coast  of  Russia. 

The  last  of  the  Ruriks  died  in  1598.  There 
followed  the  iniquitous  rule  of  Boris  Gudonov,  the 
claims  of  false  heirs,  assassinations  and  wars. 
Minine  and  Prince  Pojarsky  established  for  all 
time  their  claim  as  Russian  heroes  by  expelling  the 
Poles,  who  had  made  a  victorious  campaign 
against  the  Russians. 

The  bishops  of  the  Church  at  Moscow  followed 
young  Michael  Romanov  to  his  monastic  retreat 
on  the  Volga,  and  there  elected  and  crowned  him 
Emperor.  He  was  a  relative  of  Feodor,  the  last 
of  the  Rurik  dynasty,  and  was  the  ancestor  of  all 
the  Romanovs. 

His  son,  Alexis,  became  the  father  of  Peter  the 
First,  the  most  dominant  imperial  figure  of  Rus- 
sian history.     By   conquests   and  innovations  he 


CHRONOLOGY  51 

assisted  his  country  to  more  mature  development. 
His  victory  at  Poltava  in  1709  cost  Sweden  her 
position  as  a  military  power,  but  it  fixed  Peter's 
claim  to  Western  recognition. 

His  son  Alexis  died  in  the  Peter-Paul  fortress. 
Consequently  it  was  a  grandson  of  Peter  I  who 
was  the  next  Tsar.  Conceding  to  those  who  re- 
sented the  removal  of  the  capital  to  the  new  and 
despised  city  of  the  Neva,  the  Second  Peter  re- 
turned to  the  palace  at  Moscow,  and  died  there, 
later,  of  small-pox. 

Under  Anne  and  Elizabeth,  niece  and  daughter 
of  Great  Peter,  there  were  wars  with  Poland, 
Turkey,  Sweden  and  Prussia.  Finland  was  ceded 
by  the  Swedes.  The  arts  and  literature  were 
encouraged.  Catherine  II  proved  a  feminine 
counterpart  of  Peter.  She  led  conquests  of  the 
Caucasus,  the  Crimea  and  Courland,  and  forced 
reforms  and  learning  upon  her  hesitant  subjects. 

Under  Paul  and  Alexander  First  began  long 
wars  with  France,  ending  in  the  treaty  of  Paris. 
In  1851,  Nicholas  First  sanctioned  the  opening 
of  the  Petersburg-Moscow  railway. 

Lincoln  was  writing  his  proclamation  freeing 
the  slaves  at  the  same  time  Alexander  II  and  the 
Metropolitan  Philaret  were  draughting  the  pro- 
tocol which  liberated  the  serfs.      Before  he  was 


52  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

murdered,  March  thirteenth,  1881,  he  had  begun 
and,  later,  his  son  completed  the  subjugation  of 
the  Baltic  provinces.  During  the  latter's  reign 
the  Trans-Siberian  road  was  begun. 

On  the  death  of  Alexander  III,  his  son  Nicholas 
II  came  to  the  throne.  He  and  his  Empress,  Alex- 
andra Feodorovna,  have  five  children,  the  Heir  Ap- 
parent, Alexis  Nicolaievich,  born  August  twelfth, 
1904  (New  Style),  and  the  Grand  Duchesses  Olga, 
Tatiana,  Marie  and  Anastasia.  It  said  that 
the  life  of  the  present  Tsar  is  a  contest  between  a 
desire  to  live  in  the  intimacy  of  his  family,  and  the 
necessity  of  ruling  a  monarchy. 

Russia's  story  is  a  composite  of  the  chronicles 
of  races,  widely  different  in  origin  and  manners. 
While  the  Poles  and  the  Muscovities  were  resist- 
ing the  Eastern  hordes,  and  warring  against  each 
other,  Germans  on  the  Baltic  were  defending  their 
important  cities  against  the  Danes  and  the  Hanse- 
atic  Order.  No  people  have  a  more  valiant  record 
than  these  plucky  provincials.  Assailed  by 
Swedes,  French  and  Prussians,  they  came  at  last 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  Russia. 

Some  of  the  enemies  of  Courland,  Esthonia  and 
Livonia  also  besieged  Finland,  that  doughty 
daughter  of  the  north.  In  the  end  it  was  Russia 
who  claimed  her  also. 


CHRONOLOGY  53 

The  section  of  riven  Poland  which  fell  to  Russia, 
the  Asiatic  tribes  of  Siberia,  the  mountains  of  the 
Caucasus,  the  Tatars  of  the  Tauric  Peninsula  all 
pay  tribute.  The  Tsarevich  is  the  Hetman  of 
the  Cossacks.  From  Bulun  to  Bam,  from 
Vladivostok  to  Alexandrowa,  Russia  has  spun  her 
web. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  BALTIC  CITIES 


Libau  —  Mitau  —  Riga  —  Dorpat  —  Narva  —  Windau 
—  Arensburg  —  Revel 


Libau. 

The  metropolis  of  the  old  Duchy  of  Courland  is 
chiefly  interesting  to  tourists  because  it  is  the  home 
port  of  Atlantic  and  coast  liners.  But  the  Rus- 
sians know  it  for  its  second-class  fortification,  and 
its  commerce.  Its  export  trade  alone  amounts, 
annually,  to  about  fifty  million  rubles.  The  Gov- 
ernment has  under  advisement  the  expenditure  of 
over  five  million  rubles  on  harbor  improvements. 
It  already  has  a  fine  breakwater  and  large  docks. 

Approaching  from  the  sea  it  gives  but  a  slight 
impression  of  Russia.  Its  silhouette  is  angular, 
in  contrast  to  the  florid  grace  of  an  essentially 
Slavic  city.  Like  all  the  Baltic  cities,  Libau  is 
Russian  only  by  adoption.  Its  population  is 
principally  Jewish,  Lithuanian,  and  German. 
The  street  signs  are  in  Russian,  German,  and  Let- 
tish, and  the  two  latter  tongues  are  the  most  often 
heard. 

54 


THE  BALTIC  CITIES  55 

The  canals  which  penetrate  the  town  show  long 
perspectives  of  masts  and  funnels.  The  stern  of 
the  ships,  which  are  here  to  load  prosaic  car- 
goes of  fish,  grain  and  lumber,  bear  the  names 
of  many  German,  English,  and  Scandinavian 
ports. 

The  sea  baths,  the  concerts  and  the  restaurant 
attract  pleasure-seekers  to  the  Kurhaus.  A  white 
sand  beach  borders  the  tideless  Baltic.  The  air 
has  a  feel  of  the  north  and  a  tang  of  ozone.  Bare- 
footed Letts  crouch  over  nets  twined  with  dank 
sea  weed,  and  churlishly  repulse  the  curiosity  of 
the  promenader.  Fine  amber  is  washed  up  on 
this  coast.  Examples  of  it  are  worked  into 
trinkets  and  sold  near  the  Kurhaus. 

There  is  a  musty  market  place  in  a  waste  of  cob- 
bles. The  Kornstrasse  offers  little  that  is  individ- 
ual in  its  shops.  The  residential  avenues  are  shaded 
and  inviting.  Several  miles  from  the  city  is  a  new 
Russian  church,  which  gives  a  foretaste  of  beau- 
ties to  come.  When  these  bare  statements  are  set 
down,  the  touristic  chronicle  of  Libau  has  been 
written. 

Libau  is  twenty-two  hours  from  St.  Petersburg  by  express 
train  leaving  in  the  morning.  The  route  is  by  Mitau,  Riga, 
Dorpat,  and  Narva. 

A  pleasantcr  route  for  those  who  have  five  or  six  days 
to  spare,  is  by  the  recently  inaugurated  coasting  vessels  of 


56  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

the  Russian-American  Line.*  The  sailings  do  not  always 
connect  with  the  arrival  of  Atlantic  steamers,  but,  as  the 
steamers  lie  over  at  Riga  two  or  three  days,  unloading  and 
loading,  passengers  may  malie  the  seven-hour  rail  journey 
to  Riga  and  there  join  the  boat  for  Petersburg,  via  Revel. 
This  means  of  seeing  the  Baltic  coast  is  recommended.  The 
boats  are  very  clean  and  comfortable,  the  table  excellent, 
and  the  fare  low.  OfBcers  speak  English. 
Transportation    and    cabin,    including   linen,    Libau-Peters- 

burg,  Rs.16.00.     First-class. 
Transportation  and  cabin,  including  linen,  Riga-Petersburg, 

Rs.9.00,     First-class. 
Meals    are   extra.    Dinner    (Rs.1.25)    is    charged   whether 
taken  or  not.     Other  meals  optional. 

Mitau. 

About  five  hours  beyond  Libau,  by  rail,  is  the 
town  of  Mitau,  which  was  at  its  heyday  nearly 
three  hundred  years  ago,  when  Courland  had 
African  possessions,  and  other  foreign  colonies. 
The  dignity  of  the  city  as  a  ducal  residence  was 
sustained  by  protecting  ramparts.  A  Duchess  of 
Courland  became  Empress  of  Russia  in  1762,  and, 
a  year  before  her  death,  brought  her  native 
province  under  the  standard  of  the  two-headed 
eagle.  Her  name  was  Catherine,  and  she  was 
called,  "  the  Great." 

The  still  unfinished  chateau  was  begun  in  1738 
by  Duke  Biren  on  the  plans  of  the  Italian,  Ras- 
trelli,  who  designed  many  of  the  palatial  build- 

•  Libau  office,  2,  Kurhaus  Prospekt. 


THE  BALTIC  CITIES  57 

ings  of  Petersburg.  When  Louis  XVIII  was 
banished  from  France,  he  came  to  live  at  different 
periods  in  this  castle,  on  the  productive  and  his- 
torical plain  of  the  River  Aa.  The  rooms  he 
occupied  are  now  part  of  the  residence  of  the 
Government  officials,  but  are  visible  on  application 
to  the  concierge.  Provincial  Museum  and  private 
galleries  contain  natural  history  collections,  por- 
traits, and  antiquities  relating  to  the  Church  and 
former  rulers. 

Mitau  has  been  a  seat  of  aristocracy  and  learn- 
ing for  seven  centuries,  and  is  therefore  of  inter- 
est to  those  who  make  a  tour  by  this  route. 
Visits  to  outlying  parks  and  noble  estates  recall 
past  glories  of  a  vanished  State. 

Riga. 

German  merchants  in  the  twelfth  century  laid  the 
foundation  of  Riga's  commercial  renown,  which 
has  endured  and  increased  until  to-day  the  spirited 
city  is,  of  all  the  Baltic  towns,  second  only  to 
St.  Petersburg  in  population  and  industry.  It 
has  the  physiognomy  of  a  German  port,  and  the 
cleanliness  and  astuteness,  as  well.  There  is  no 
happy-go-lucky  air  about  it.  The  tourist  with  a 
lust  for  things  Slavic,  may  be  impatient  of  its 
vigorous  Teutonism.     Its  Hanseatic  gables,  guild 


68  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

halls,  and  Luthern  spires  have  nothing  in  common 
with  Muscovy  architecture,  and  the  life  of  its 
streets  and  pleasure  parks  reflect  no  phase  of 
orientalism.  It  is  the  most  ultra-Western  town 
in  the  kingdom. 

Riga  last  year  erected  over  fifteen  hundred  new 
business  and  apartment  buildings,  equipped  with 
elevators,  open  plumbing  and  steam  radiators. 
English  and  American  farm  machinery  form  the 
cargoes  of  many  incoming  ships,  and  the  agricul- 
turists of  the  region  thereabouts  share  the  renown 
of  their  fellows  in  Siberia  and  southwestern  Russia 
for  enterprise. 

The  princes  of  finance  have  built  their  modern 
villas  in  the  Petersburg  faubourg.  A  beautiful 
theatre  and  the  noted  Polytechnical  School  are 
in  the  same  district.  The  Greek  Orthodox  Church 
and  the  City  Art  Gallery  flank  a  verdant  space  in 
the  centre  of  the  new  quarter,  where  there  is  also 
a  lately  erected  bronze  statue  of  Peter  the  Great. 

The  citadel  on  the  river  bank  has  been  torn  by 
the  cannon  balls  of  repeated  sieges.  It  is  a  round 
tower  of  great  age.  A  guild  of  young  bachelors, 
who  called  themselves  "  black  heads  "  in  distinction 
to  their  grey-haired  seniors,  built  the  House  of 
the  Black  Heads  in  1330.  Allegorical  figures  and 
the  arms  of  cities  which  belonged  to  the  Hansa 


THE  BALTIC  CITIES  69 

Order  are  sculptured  on  the  face  of  this  singular 
building.  This  guild  made  its  impress  on  the 
politics  and  commerce  of  all  the  northern  cities 
of  its  time. 

Only  the  pipe  organ  formerly  installed  at  the 
St.  Louis  Exposition,  now  at  Asbury  Park,  New- 
Jersey,  and  the  giant  of  the  Town  Hall,  Sydney, 
Australia,  are  larger  than  the  instrument  in  the 
Domkirche,  or  German  Catholic  Cathedral  of  St. 
Mary.  The  towers  of  this  church,  of  St.  Peter's, 
and  other  medieval  buildings  embellish  the  city's 
sky-line  as  seen  from  the  Dwina,  and  across  the 
river  in  the  suburbs. 

The  Historical  Society  of  Riga  has  commem- 
orated the  stormy  days  of  the  old  town  by  estab- 
lishing a  nmseum  filled  with  examples  of  furniture, 
silver-ware,  bronzes,  ceramics,  household  utensils, 
arms,  antiquated  maps,  and  weapons,  all  expres- 
sive of  the  ancient  Livonian  period.  The  Palace 
of  the  Chevaliers  supplements  this  collection  by 
exhibiting  in  a  handsome  salon  the  armor  of  the 
nobles  of  Livonia. 

The  Governor-General  of  the  Province  occupies 
the  castle  built  by  Walter  von  Plettenburg,  Master 
of  the  Knights  of  the  Sword. 

In  summer,  the  residents  resort  to  the  villages  of 
Bilderlingshof  and  Majohrenhof  for  the  sea  bath- 


60  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

ing,  and  swarm  out  the  well-paved  streets  to  the 
parks,  where  the  military  bands  boom  and  flute 
and  thump  programmes  of  German  favourites, 
with  Russian  seasoning. 

Riga  is  about  fifteen  hours  from  Petersburg  via  Dorpat 
and  Narva,  and  about  the  same  via  Pskov,  which  latter 
point  is  on  the  through  route  from  Berlin  and  Warsaw  to 
Petersburg. 

The  railway  to  Revel  (twelve  hours  from  Riga)  branches 
beyond  Dorpat  at  Taps,  turning  west,  while  the  road  to 
Petersburg  goes  due  east. 

Through  trains  run  from  Riga  to  Moscow  in  thirty  hours 
via  Kreutzburg  and  Rjev;  or  by  Smolensk,  a  somewhat 
longer  route. 

Dorpat. 

Dorpat  is  the  seat  of  the  university  which  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus  established  in  1632,  the  first  uni- 
versity within  the  present  limits  of  the  Empire. 
Moscow  University,  the  first  institution  of  its  kind 
to  be  founded  in  Russia  proper,  had  its  birth  one 
hundred  and  twenty-three  years  later. 

Dorpat  University  has  2750  pupils.  It  has  had 
a  tumultuous  career  during  war  and  rumors  of 
war,  but  flourishes  to-day. 

If  the  tourist  is  fortunate  enough  to  gain  admit- 
tance to  the  Chateau  Ratshof,  outside  Dorpat,  he 
will  be  astounded  to  find  a  gallery  containing 
works  of  Jan  Steen,  Ruysdaels,  van  Eyck,  Frans 


THE  BALTIC  CITIES  61 

Hals,  Tcniers,  Donatcllo,  Delia  Robbia,  and  Mich- 
ael Angelo.  During  long-ago  tours  in  Holland, 
the  ancestor  of  the  Liphart  family  acquired  this 
rarely  visited  collection. 

Narva. 

In  the  thriving  days  of  the  Teutonic  Order,  the 
commerce  of  Narva  surpassed  that  of  Riga  and 
Revel.  The  archives  of  the  middle  ages  record 
the  intrepidity  and  energy  of  this  comparatively 
insignificant  port  of  the  present.  Like  all  frontier 
towns  of  those  days,  Narva  had  to  defend,  not 
only  her  commercial  reputation  but  her  posses- 
sions as  well,  from  jealous  nations.  Because  of 
her  inaccessible  harbour,  and  the  subsequent 
supremacy  of  her  sisters  on  the  Gulfs  of  Riga 
and  Finland,  Narva  is  now  lightly  regarded  ex- 
cept for  her  past  prowess. 

Windau. 

Windau  is  on  the  coast  north  of  Libau.  The 
steamers  of  the  Russian-East  Asiatic  Company, 
of  which  the  Russian-American  Line  is  a  branch, 
touch  here  en  route  for  Revel  and  Petersburg.  It 
is  a  distributing  port  for  much  inland  territory, 
and  very  recently  has  compelled  attention  because 
of  its  growth.     It  has  a  chateau  built  in  1290. 


62  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Arensburg. 

On  the  ship's  course  to  Revel  lie  the  islands  of 
Osel  and  Dago,  which  seem  to  have  broken  from 
the  mainland  of  Esthonia.  Arensburg  is  the  only 
large  town  in  the  island  district.  As  famous  as 
its  baths  are  the  rugged  native  ponies.  Passen- 
gers for  the  steamers  come  out  in  small  boats.  At 
night,  the  water  is  often  surveyed  by  the  long 
shafts  of  the  search-lights  on  revenue  cutters, 
prowling  about  the  sound  for  suspected  smugglers. 

Like  all  the  rest  of  this  region,  these  islands  have 
had  a  succession  of  masters,  beginning  with  Den- 
mark and  ending  with  Russia. 

Hapsal,  across  the  Moon  Sound,  is  known  for  its 
baths  and  ecclesiastical  ruins. 

Revel. 

The  crotchety  streets  of  this  archaic  port  climb 
with  many  twists  and  angles  from  the  lower  town 
to  the  upper  Domberg.  Fantastic  pinnacles  and 
battlements,  ruminating  on  by-gone  hostilities, 
peer  darkly  down  to  the  byways  where  Hansa 
merchants  bartered  for  the  city  with  the  Danes, 
and  where  the  balls  of  Swedes  and  Russians  rent 
donjon  and  citadel. 

The  five  shining  domes  of  the  Alexander  Nevsky 
Cathedral   are   in   almost  banal   contrast   to   the 


THE  BALTIC  CITIES  63 

Gothic  fafadcs  of  the  buildings  surrounding  the 
Dombcrg,  The  castle,  now  the  Governor's  resi- 
dence, has  a  tower  which  the  energetic  climb  for 
the  sea  view.  This  memorial  of  the  thirteenth 
century  is  the  same  age  as  the  Dom,  which  con- 
tains tombs  of  Swedish  generals,  a  Prince  of 
Thurn,  and  a  Scotch  admiral,  who,  like  so  many 
of  his  race,  served  Russia  in  Catherine's  time.  Be- 
low the  Palace  Square  is  the  limestone  Church  of 
St.  Nicholas,  having  triple  naves,  decorated  with 
carved  wood  and  paintings.  The  old  Christian 
King,  Olas  of  Norway,  has  a  monument  in  the 
graceful  Church  of  St.  Olas.  The  tower  is  the 
highest  in  Russia  (463  ft.),  and  contributes  to 
the  gracious  aspect  of  Revel  from  the  sea. 

Under  the  svelte  seventeenth  century  tower  of 
the  City  Hall  are  old  arcades,  and  salons  full  of 
archives,  tapestries,  and  sculptured  wood.  On 
the  north,  is  the  market-place,  at  the  clou  of  the 
busy  toAvn.  Every  morning  the  Esthonian  women 
come  in  from  their  farms  to  sell  at  the  crude  stalls 
the  fruit  of  their  labour.  Their  faces  are  broad 
with  high  cheek  bones,  and  sometimes  their  eyes 
slant  the  weest  bit,  reminding  one  of  their  Mon- 
gol origin.  They  are  usually  bare-footed,  and 
invariably  wide-hipped  and  deep-chested.  They 
bargain  in  the  unpolished  phrases  of  an  illiterate 


64  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

tongue,  one  of  many  distinct  languages  spoken 
by  the  various  peoples  of  these  northern  prov- 
inces. 

Revel  is  rich  in  walks  and  excursions.  At 
Catherinethal  is  the  imperial  chateau  which  Peter 
I  gave  to  his  second  wife,  the  First  Catherine, 
who  had  been  a  house  servant  in  the  family  of  a 
Lutheran  minister  of  this  province  before  she  be- 
came Peter^s  consort,  and,  later.  Empress  in  her 
own  right.  One  may  drive  on  from  the  park 
about  the  chateau  to  Kosch,  in  the  wooded  valley 
of  the  St.  Bridget  River,  and  thence  to  the  ruins 
of  a  convent  dedicated  by  the  Danes  to  St. 
Bridget.  The  Russians  destroyed  it  centuries 
ago.  Its  dead  walls  and  portals  crown  the  banks 
of  its  winding  namesake,  not  far  from  the  sea. 

In  the  roads  off  Revel,  which  is  the  chief  naval 
station  on  the  Baltic,  there  is  usually  a  squadron 
of  Russian  cruisers  or  battle-ships.  In  the  Sum- 
mer, target  practice  takes  place  in  the  offing, 
towards  Finland. 

Helsingfors  is  almost  opposite  Revel,  and  only  five  hours 
away  by  steamer.     Fare,  four  rubles. 

By  night  express,  Revel  is  eleven  hours  from  St.  Peters- 
burg; by  water  eighteen  hours.  Fare,  on  the  Russian-East 
Asiatic  coasting  vessels,  five  rubles,  first-class,  including 
cabin. 


CHAPTER  V 


FINLAND 


Helsingfors  —  Hango  —  Abo  —  Tammerfors  —  The  Fish« 
ing-grounds  —  Viborg  —  Northern  Lakes  —  Imatra 


The  beauties  of  Finland  are  for  the  nature 
lover,  rather  than  the  sight-seer.  From  June  to 
Fall,  it  is  the  embodiment  of  Summer  joys.  In 
compensation  for  sunless  winters  gripped  in  ice, 
the  Creator  grants  this  green  and  flowering  res- 
pite. Spangled  by  lakes,  wreathed  with  forests, 
fringed  by  islands,  the  "  Last  Born  Daughter  of 
the  Sea  "  sits  smiling  amid  the  northern  waters. 

The  stars  go  to  bed  when  the  summer  begins, 
and  the  sun  takes  up  the  night  watch  in  their 
stead.  A  kind  of  nature  revelry  intoxicates  the 
land;  the  tourist  will  feel  it  as  he  drifts  on  ser- 
pentine streams,  and  penetrates  piney  retreats. 
No  midnight  shadows  lie  across  the  multitude  of 
lakes.  From  noon  to  noon,  the  air  is  warmed  by 
the  sun,  and  tremulous  with  insect  life.  The  lav- 
ish foliage  and  vivid  wild  flowers  have  their  share 
in  the  outdoor  orgy  which  marks  the  Finnish 
Summer. 

65 


66  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

The  cities  are  animated,  and  some  of  them  are 
out  of  the  ordinary.  Helsingfors  is  so  unusual 
that  it  cannot  be  duplicated  in  the  East,  or  on 
the  Western  Continent.  But  those  who  have 
been  to  Finland  and  essay  to  write  of  it,  will  find 
their  pens  rebellious  of  formal  restraints,  and  apt 
to  ramble  from  proscribed  sights  to  a  realm  of 
legends  and  nature  rites.  It  is  impossible  to  play 
guide  to  the  traveller  with  the  completeness  her 
fascinations  demand.  However,  her  Summer  cli- 
mate has  so  long  been  misconceived  and  her  pe- 
culiar attractions  so  long  disregarded  by  the 
holiday-maker,  that  it  would  be  an  offence  against 
tourism  to  fail  to  suggest,  if  ever  so  briefly,  the 
exhilaration  of  a  sojourn  in  the  land  called  Suomi 
by  the  Finns. 

In  race  and  language,  the  Finns  are  of  the 
East,  having  little  in  common  with  Europe  ex- 
cept what  has  been  acquired  and  grafted.  The 
Mongolian  race  In  Russia  has  two  branches.  The 
Finns,  Esthonians,  Mordvins  and  Cheremissi  be- 
long to  one,  and  the  Tatars  to  the  other.  It  may 
be  supposed,  therefore,  that  the  "  first  settlers  " 
were  actuated  by  the  same  intrusive  spirit  of  mi- 
gration which  brought  the  Horde  of  Gold  to  west- 
ern gates. 

They  are  one  of  the  few  races  extant  whose  be- 


FINLAND  67 

glnnings  have  no  clironiclcs  on  stone  or  parch- 
ment. Their  lore  is  threaded  with  hints  of  witch- 
craft. To  the  country  folk,  the  woods  are  still 
tenanted  by  spirits,  recalling  the  legends  of  North 
American  Indians.  In  fact,  Longfellow  imitated 
the  metre  of  the  Finnish  runos,  or  sagas,  in  writ- 
ing "  Hiawatha."  The  epic  of  the  "  Kalevala  "* 
• — "  Land  of  Heroes,"  recites  the  allegories  of 
Vainamoinen,  of  Ilmarinen,  and  the  Rainbow 
Maid,  and  ranks  as  a  classic  with  the  Iliad,  the 
Shahnametti,  and  the  Niebelunge. 

The  Finns  are  imaginative,  whimsical,  famously 
hospitable,  intelligent,  industrious,  stubborn,  and 
superstitious.  They  have  the  capricious  solidity 
of  their  eccentric  granite  boulders.  In  the  last 
half  century,  their  country  has  emerged  from  a 
hoary  chrysalis,  scarred  by  the  contentions  of 
Slavs  and  Scandinavians,  into  a  butterfly  of  prog- 
ress and  activity.  New  arts,  new  conceptions, 
new  commerce  have  evolved  with  stupefying 
rapidity.  The  result  is  chaos,  out  of  which  a 
remarkable  country  will  certainly  eventuate. 
Progress  is  a  cult,  modernity  a  fetich.  The  lat- 
est of  everything  is  in  demand,  let  it  be  in  politics, 

*  English  translation  from  the  original  by  W.  F.  Kirby. 
E.  P.  Button  &  Co.,  New  York  and  J.  M.  Dent  &  Co., 
London. 


68  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

architecture  or  business.  Women  sit  in  the  Diet, 
a  bizarre  decoration  and  outline  distinguishes 
houses  and  office  buildings,  and  manufactories 
hum  with  equipment  which  is  the  last  word  in 
industrial  fashions.  Against  a  background  of 
world-old  sloth,  the  new  Finland  glitters  like  a 
gem  on  a  sombre  corsage. 

The  population  of  over  three  million  is  three- 
fourths  Finnish.  The  remainder  is  made  up 
chiefly  of  Swedes  and  Russians.  For  the  Swedes, 
the  Finns  profess  a  burning  contempt.  Ninety- 
eight  per  cent  of  the  population  are  Lutherans. 

The  Grand  Duchy  of  Finland,  which  has  be- 
longed to  Russia  since  1808,  is  under  the  absolute 
administration  of  a  Governor-General,  nominated 
by  the  Tsar.  The  Senators  are  nominated  by 
the  Tsar  to  the  two  divisions  of  the  Senate.  The 
Legislation  of  the  Grand  Duchy  is  in  the  hands 
of  a  Diet  of  two  hundred  members,  elected  an- 
nually to  sit  for  ninety  days.  In  the  last  Diet, 
nineteen  women  members  were  elected.  The  Finns 
are  not  liable  to  personal  military  service,  but 
pay  an  annual  contribution  to  the  Imperial 
Exchequer. 

The  calendar  is  the  same  as  that  of  western 
Europe,  but  certain  Russian  fete  days  are  ob- 
served in  State  offices  and  schools. 


FINLAND  69 

The  Finnish  standard  of  coinage  is  the  mark 
=  9^d.,  English,  =  19c.,  American,  =  38k,, 
Russian.  1  ruble  =  2  marks  65.  The  copper 
unit  is  a  penni.  5  pennis  =  |d.  =  Ic.  =  2k. 
Russian  money  is  also  in  circulation. 

Many  Finnish  business  men  speak  English,  as 
well  as  Finnish,  Russian,  and  Swedish. 

Helsingfors  is  served  by  steamers  from  Hull,  Copenha- 
gen, Stockholm,  Revel,  Abo,  Viborg  and  St.  Petersburg. 
State  railways  connect  Russia  with  Finland  by  lines  run- 
ning from  Petersburg  to  Viborg,  Helsingfors  and  Abo, 
with  branches  to  Imatra,  the  fishing  grounds  of  North  Fin- 
land, Hango,  Tammerfors,  and  other  places  of  greater  or 
less  interest  to  the  tourist. 

Helsingfors. 

The  fortifications  of  Sveaborg,  set  on  seven 
islands  not  far  from  Helsingfors,  are  the  main 
strategic  reason  for  the  Russification  of  Finland. 
Most  of  the  Baltic  defences  are  out  of  date,  and, 
therefore,  Russia  places  great  reliance  on  this 
Northern  Gibraltar,  which  bars  the  way  of  hos- 
tile fleets. 

The  approach  to  the  capital  city  is  announced 
by  the  needle  spires  of  a  modern  Lutheran  church. 
A  peninsula,  or  "  near-island,"  as  the  French  say, 
drops  from  the  mainland  like  a  pendant,  edged 
by  a  filigree  of  islets.     On  this  site,  stretches  a 


70  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

level  shore,  surmounted  by  low  hills.  In  striking 
variety  and  wide  extent  spread  the  avenues,  parks, 
and  suburbs  of  the  Finnish  metropolis.  If  the 
municipality  were  a  menage,  one  could  say  that  it 
reflected  good  house-keeping.  There  is  no  dust 
in  the  corners,  and  the  brasses  are  rubbed  to  a 
mirror  polish.  The  Esplanade  is  the  shady 
front  yard,  and  the  market  place  is  handy  for  the 
day's  provisioning.  The  country  women  sit  here 
every  Summer  morning,  barricaded  by  greens  and 
dewy  vegetables,  and  flanked  by  radiant  hampers 
of  wild  flowers,  baskets  of  berries,  and  cans  of 
rich  milk.  They  come  by  cart  or  boat  from  their 
toupas,  which,  unlike  the  Russian  farm  houses, 
are  usually  set  far  apart,  their  acres  divided  by 
slanting  fences. 

The  hotels,  which  are  modern  and  very  reason- 
able in  price,  are  grouped  near  the  market.  A 
good  room  in  the  "  Societetshus "  costs  from 
three  to  nine  marks.  The  street  which  parallels 
the  Esplanade  is  one  of  the  main  shopping 
thoroughfares. 

Following  the  burning  of  Helsingfors,  shortly 
after  its  subjugation  to  Russia,  the  Government, 
appreciative  of  the  city's  fine  position,  sent  a 
German  named  Engel  to  plan  a  new  capital.  He 
was  a  man  of  ideas  and  energy,  and  he  created, 


GRAND     DUCHESS     ELIZABETH,     NOW    AN     INMATE     OF     A 
CONVENT    WHICH    SHE    FOUNDED 


FINLAND  71 

as  examples  to  future  architects  in  Finland,  a 
cluster  of  buildings  which  still  exist  as  memorials 
of  his  genius.  These  are  the  Senate,  the  Library, 
the  Governor-General's  residence,  the  Nicholas 
Church,  the  University,  and  the  Observatory. 
The  statue  in  the  Senate  Square  was  raised  to 
Alexander  II  in  1891,  in  gratitude  for  his  con- 
sideration of  the  rights  of  his  northern  subjects. 

About  twenty-five  hundred  students  are  enrolled 
in  the  various  schools  of  the  University.  One- 
fifth  of  this  number  are  women.  Both  sexes  wear 
a  white  velvet  cap,  bordered  in  black,  and  bearing 
an  emblematic  lyre. 

The  Athenaeum  houses  a  most  interesting  picture 
gallery,  which  denotes  the  present  attainments 
and  future  promise  of  native  artists.  The  Fin- 
nish Art  Union,  founded  over  sixty  years  ago, 
has  so  nurtured  the  talents  of  the  past  genera- 
tion, as  well  as  the  present,  that  there  is  now  a 
clearly  defined  Finland  school,  based  on  all  that 
is  typical  of  this  imaginative  and  strongly 
patriotic  country.  Among  the  painters  whose 
work  will  be  particularly  enjoyed  are  Robert 
Eknian,  Lindholm,  Vesterholm,  Edelfelt,  Gallen 
and  Holmbcrg.  Finland's  four  greatest  sculp- 
tors are  Riinebcrg,  Stigcll,  Vallgren  and  Takanen. 
The  work  of  several   of  these   artists   has   found 


72  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

appreciation  abroad.  One  of  Edelfelt's  genre 
pictures  is  in  the  Luxenbourg,  Paris,  and  another 
in  the  Alexander  III  Museum,  Petersburg. 

The  Skatudden  quarter,  on  a  jutting  tongue 
of  land  to  the  east  of  the  city,  is  the  site  of  the 
Greek  Orthodox  Church  and  the  Customs  House. 
Avenues  upon  avenues  front  apartment  houses 
of  elegant  and  odd  design.  The  abundant 
granite  quarries  supply  the  principal  building 
material.  Its  handling  is  often  as  grotesque  as 
it  is  massive,  so  that  Helsingfors  may  be  accused 
of  possessing  a  scheme  of  architecture  which 
traduces  tradition,  laughs  at  common-placeness, 
and  sometimes  violates  accepted  forms.  But  no 
matter  what  the  result,  Helsingfors  is  refreshing 
because  it  is  different.  It  is  not  Japanese,  or 
Levantine,  or  Hindu ;  it  is  neither  Classic,  nor 
Gothic,  nor  Renaissance,  but  it  is  Finnish. 

At  a  number  of  arboured  restaurants,  one  may 
taste  Finnish  fare  at  its  best.  The  distinctive 
feature  of  luncheon  or  dinner  is  the  "  appetiser," 
corresponding  with  the  zakuska  of  Russia,  except 
that,  if  possible,  it  exceeds  the  Russian  in  variety. 
The  dinner  is  usually  taken  between  three  and 
six  p.  M.,  a  cold  supper  following  at  eight  or 
nine  o'clock.  The  Finnish  cooks  have  an  individ- 
uality that  charms  all  palates.     If  this  is  doubted, 


FINLAND  73 

let  the  stranger  take  supper  at  the  Kapellet  at 
the  end  of  the  Promenade,  or  dinner  at  one  of  the 
excellent  hotels.  He  will  not  pay  more  than  three 
marks  for  an  elaborate  meal.  Brittle  discs  of 
"  knackebrod  "  and  native  beer  are  on  every  bill 
of  fare. 

For  recreation,  the  residents  go  to  the  Brunns- 
park  by  tram,  five  minutes  from  the  harbour,  or 
to  the  Zoological  Garden,  zoological  in  name  only, 
for,  as  yet,  it  has  no  animals.  Or  they  board  a 
jaunty  craft  bound  for  Svcaborg,  or  Hogholmen, 
or  one  of  the  myriad  islands  of  the  port,  lunch- 
ing, perhaps  at  the  Klippan  restaurant,  near  the 
Yacht  Club  anchorage. 

The  Finland  Tourist  Office,  21  Norra  Esplan- 
ada,  Helsingfors,  will  give,  gratuitously,  details 
concerning  trips  to  any  part  of  Finland,  includ- 
ina:  information  to  fishermen,  and  to  those  wish- 
ing  to  shoot  the  rapids  in  typical  tar  boats,  a 
sport  enjoyed  on  several  riotous  streams  and 
lakes.  The  officials  of  the  Finland  Steamship 
Company  are  always  most  attentive  to  travellers. 
Their  building  is   one  of  the  handsomest  in  the 

city,   and  the  stranger  in  search  of  information 

is  courteously  welcomed. 


74  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Hango. 

The  Finnish  Brighton  or  Atlantic  City  is  about 
fifteen  hours  from  Helsingfors  by  water,  and  six 
hours  by  rail.  Each  Summer  thousands  of 
guests  arrive  at  the  gay  little  watering-place, 
where  many  weeks  may  be  happily  spent.  It  is 
at  the  toe  of  the  most  southerly  promontory  of 
the  Grand  Duchy.  English  house-wives  who 
relish  the  butter  churned  in  Finland  dairies,  will 
be  interested  in  the  fact  that  Hango  is  a  prin- 
cipal shipping  point  for  the  creamy  commodity. 

Abo. 

The  former  capital  of  Finland  (eight  hours 
northwest  of  Helsingfors  by  rail)  has  many  his- 
toric claims  upon  the  tourist's  attention.  It  had 
its  birth  in  1157,  when  the  Swedes  baptised  it 
with  Christian  rites.  In  the  thirteenth  century, 
the  cathedral  was  consecrated  to  St.  Henry, 
Bishop  of  Upsal,  and,  strangely,  an  Englishman. 
That  he  should  be  the  patron  saint  of  Finland 
seems  still  more  strange,  but  this  fact  only  em- 
phasises the  influence  the  English  have  had  upon 
this  country.  As  traders,  artists,  and  church- 
men, they  have  been  valued  tutors.  The  British 
have  also  been  the  first  to  appreciate  Finland  from 
the   tourist's   view-point.      Each   year,   they   are 


FINLAND  75 

seeking  her  cities,  forest  camps,  and  fishing 
grounds  in  greater  number,  offering  the  Ameri- 
cans an  example  which  they  will  emulate  to  their 
pleasure. 

The  Church  of  St.  Mary  on  the  Aura,  north  of 
Abo,  was  built  in  1161,  and  therefore  has  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  oldest  in  Finland. 

In  a  chapel  of  the  grizzly  Abo  Dom  is  the 
modern  sarcophagus  of  a  Swedish  queen,  who, 
as  a  little  girl,  tended  a  stall  in  the  market  at 
Stockholm.  She  was  wooed  by  King  Eric  XIV 
who,  despite  his  subjects'  contempt  for  his  lowly 
choice,  made  her  his  consort.  When  a  scornful 
prince  sent  him  a  symbolic  robe  of  velvet  patched 
with  coarse  cloth,  the  loyal  spouse  returned  it, 
the  patch  having  been  sewn  with  gems  to  signify 
the  worth  of  the  beggar-girl  queen. 

A  well-to-do  citizen  has  given  the  town  a  collec- 
tion of  native  art  as  the  nucleus  for  a  picture 
gallery.  In  conjunction  with  the  Athenaeum  at 
Helsingfors,  it  is  of  more  than  ordinary  interest. 
A  short  boat  ride  from  the  city,  a  stolid  old 
chateau  grimly  surveys  the  country-side,  reminis- 
cent of  the  days  when  the  apparently  ubiquitous 
Gustavus  Adolphus  was  in  residence  there,  and 
of  later  times  when  prisoners  stared  out  of  its 
grilled  casements. 


76  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Abo  is  very  jealous  of  the  present  capital.  It 
was  at  one  time  the  only  city  in  Finland,  but 
must  to-day  concede  supremacy  to  another. 
However,  the  island  environs  of  the  elder  city  are 
even  more  beautiful  than  those  of  the  capital, 
called  Helsinki  by  the  natives,  and  the  inhabitants 

o 

of  Abo,  who  are  nearly  all  of  Swedish  origin, 
staunchly  vaunt  the  superiority  of  their  harbour. 
The  archipelago  reaches  out  for  miles  to  meet 
Sweden,  affording  inward-bound  steamers  hours 
of  Arcadian  scenery. 

Tammerfors. 

e 

At  the  end  of  the  Abo-Tammerfors  branch  of 
the  railway,  about  a  four-hour  journey,  is  the 
chief  manufacturing  town  of  the  country.  The 
power  of  its  many  factories  is  obtained  from  lake 
rapids,  so  that  it  is  not  soiled  by  soot  or  smoke, 
and  is  perhaps  the  tidiest  mill  town  in  existence. 

Troops  of  well-clothed,  bright-faced  factory 
hands  indicate  the  prosperity  of  Finland's  third 
largest  town.  Everything  is  unadulteratedly 
Finnish,  and  consequently,  as  substantial  as  it  is 
enterprising  and  original. 

The  site  of  the  town  is  a  promontory  which 
separates  two  great  lakes,  the  Nasi  and  Pyha 
jarvi.     The  interior  of  Finland,  a  wildly  beauti- 


FINLAND  77 

ful  region,  can  be  reached  by  steamers  of  the 
Nasi  jarvi. 

The  five-hour  journey  from  Tammerfors  south 
to  Helsingfors,  and  the  subsequent  eight  hours 
to  Viborg  by  rail,  will  reveal  pictures  of  rural 
Finland  ...  a  clump  of  osiers  in  the  angle 
of  a  rail  fence,  mild  cows  nibbling  their  lush 
pasturage,  the  shine  of  a  lake  through  the  birches, 
rosy  farm  children  gathering  field  berries,  some 
mowers  lunching  in  the  shade  of  typical  hay  piles, 
whose  denuded  skeletons  look  like  hall-racks.  In 
the  evening,  after  a  steam  bath  at  the  sauna,  or 
bath-house,  as  necessary  in  the  make-up  of  a 
Finland  farm  as  the  barn  or  granary,  the  workers 
will  smoke  their  beloved  tobacco  before  their  red- 
brown  cabins,  while  their  w^omen-folk  tuck  the 
little  berry-pickers  in  their  straight  beds. 

Half  way  between  Helsingfors  and  Viborg,  a 
line  ascends  almost  due  north  for  275  miles  to  the 
prolific  fishing-grounds  of  Kajaani  and  Vaala. 
Salmon,  grayling  and  trout  rise  best  to  the  bait 
in  August.  The  hotel  service  is  wholesome  and 
inexpensive.  The  Finland  Steamship  Company 
will  forward  to  anglers  detailed  information. 

Lonnrot,  who  compiled  the  Kalevala,  was  born 
near  Kajaani,  the  son  of  a  tailor. 


78  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Viborg. 

Viborg  has  its  place  in  the  tourist's  Finland,  not 
because  of  its  personal  attraction,  but  because 
it  is  the  guardian  of  the  way  that  leads  to  the 
north  lakes  and  Imatra.  In  itself,  it  is  a  dull 
town,  neither  of  its  own  country  nor  of  Russia, 
but  a  dingy  jumble  of  both. 

The  corpulent  tower  called  "  Fat  Katherine " 
looks  down  on  her  stocky  sisters  in  the  market- 
place. One  may  walk  on  the  Esplanade  and  sup 
under  the  trees,  and  for  forty  pennis  obtain  en- 
trance four  days  a  week  to  the  lovely  estate  of 
"  Mon  Rcpos,"  which  is  two  miles  away  across 
the  Abo  bridge. 

There  is  a  leisurely,  beautiful  route  by  the  locks 
of  the  Saima  Canal  to  Rattijarvi,  where  a  dili- 
gence leaves  for  Imatra,  twenty-six  miles  away. 
The  steamers  sail  from  the  Castle  quay  and  enter 
locks  hemmed  by  the  summer  estates  of  rich 
Petersburgers.  Beyond  Rattijarvi,  the  canal 
enters  the  great  lake  of  Sai'ma,  which  ramifies 
and  extends  into  the  matchless  kingdom  of  the 
Forest  Gods,  past  Nyslott,  the  Finnish  Venice, 
beyond  the  ridge  of  Punkaharju,  through  a 
labyrinth  of  water-ways,  up  and  up  to  Kuopio 
and  lisalmj.     This  is  a  bracing,  lazy  route  to  the 


FINLAND  79 

fishing  lakes.  The  steamers  and  inns  are  simple, 
but  always  comfortable.  It  is  only  a  three-hour 
journey  by  rail  from  lisalmi  to  Kajaani.  From 
this  backwoods  hamlet,  where  conversation  is  of 
flies,  spoon  bait  and  Devon  minnows,  a  steamer 
crosses  Oulujiirvi  to  a  point  from  which  a  post 
road  starts.  It  traverses  a  primitive  waste  to 
Uleaborg,  on  the  north  shore  of  the  Gulf  of 
Bothnia. 

To  witness  the  spectacle  of  the  midnight  sun, 
the  tourist  may  journey  from  Uleaborg  by  train 
to  Tornea  on  the  Swedish  border,  ascend  the  river, 
and  climb  Mount  Avasaksa;  or,  before  reaching 
Tornea,  leave  the  train  at  Kemi,  and  proceed  by 
a  new  line  to  Rovaniemi,  on  the  Arctic  circle. 

Imatra. 

Those  who  have  only  a  day  to  see  the  show  place 
of  Finland  ^Wll  journey  the  twenty-two  miles  from 
Viborg  to  Imatra  by  rail. 

The  voice  of  struggling  Avaters  comes  down  the 
shaded  avenue  which  leads  from  the  station  to 
the  bridge  spanning  the  River  Vuoksi.  There  is 
a  note  in  the  roaring  torrent  which  alarms, 
but  allures  as  well.  In  ten  minutes,  the  trav- 
eller is  on  the  bridge  looking  on  the  writhing 
flood. 


80  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

It  will  help  to  understand  the  leaping  fury  below 
if  one  traces  on  a  map  of  Finland  the  branching 
maze  of  lakes  which  disgorge  in  the  great  Saima. 
The  waters  have  gyrated  among  legions  of  lakes 
and  recessed  shores  to  meet  at  last  below  Nyslott. 
There  they  turn  east,  and  assemble  in  the  Sai'ma, 
like  troops  marshalled  from  far-off  garrisons  upon 
a  battle-field.  They  storm  the  slender  passage 
of  the  Vuoksi,  crowding  through  its  mouth  in 
passionate  haste.  As  they  descend,  the  waters 
which,  in  the  north,  have  lain  so  placidly  among 
the  islands,  burst  into  a  savage  rage.  Since 
birth,  they  have  known  neither  trammel  nor  ob- 
struction. Suddenly,  the  river  narrows,  and  they 
are  crowded,  tossed,  piled  upon  one  another  in 
a  channel  walled  by  granite  cliffs  not  fifty  feet 
apart.  They  shriek  and  thunder  and  plunge  like 
trapped  creatures.  They  trample  and  crush  in 
terrible  combat,  as  they  fall  down  the  declivities 
of  the  river  bed,  forming  the  Cascades  of  Imatra, 
and  four  others  of  lesser  descent  and  decreasing 
tumult.  Calmed  and  chastened,  the  flood  broadens 
and  courses  on  its  way  to  Lake  Ladoga,  the  Neva, 
and  the  sea  with  advancing  repose,  brooding  upon 
the  conflict  its  younger  brothers  are  even  then 
waging. 

From    the    balcony    built    over   the    cliff   in    the 


FINLAND  81 

grounds  of  the  Cascade  Hotel,  the  deafened,  awe- 
struck traveller  may  gaze  across  and  up  the  seeth- 
ing cataract,  or,  descending  to  the  edge  of  the 
right  bank,  may  look  directly  into  the  face  of 
the  flood. 

Boat  and  fishing  excursions  above  and  below 
the  Falls  are  innocuous  diversions  after  one  has 
witnessed  the  torment  of  the  waters  at  the  Cas- 
cades of  Imatra. 


The  passenger  who  prefers  to  leave  Viborg  for  Peters- 
burg by  steamer,  will  find  frequent  communication,  as  boats 
down  from  Helsingfors  call  four  times  a  week,  arriving  at 
the  Vassili  Ostrov  Pier,  Petersburg. 

Those  who  have  already  made  the  tour  of  Russia,  can  re- 
turn direct  to  Stockholm,  Copenhagen  or  Hull  by  the  Fin- 
land Steamship  Line,  sailing  from  Helsingfors  or  Abo. 

The  railway  trip  from  Viborg  to  Petersburg  consumes 
four  hours.  Baggage  is  examined  at  the  Finnish  frontier. 
The  terminal  station  is  the  Finliandsky  Voksal,  a  long  way 
from  the  centre  of  the  capital.  Cab  fare,  about  1  ruble  = 
2/-  =  50c. 

Passengers  from  Berlin,  Vienna  and  Warsaw  arrive  at 
the  Warsaw  Station  or  Voksali,  Petersburg;  from  Libau, 
Riga  and  Revel,  at  the  Baltic  Station;  from  Moscow  and 
the  south,  at  the  Nicholas  Station. 

Hotel  omnibuses  meet  the  principal  trains.  The  new  ar- 
rival who  is  diffident  about  venturing  upon  the  comedy  of 
bargaining  with  the  cab  drivers  may  prefer  the  omnibus  of 
his  chosen  hostelry.  Or,  after  tipping  the  luggage  porter 
about  20  kopeks  =  5d.  =  lOc,  he  may  enter  a  drosky,  men- 
tion to  the  isvoschik  the  name  of  his  hotel,  and  drive  oflF, 
assured  that  in  record  cab  time  he  will  reach  his  destina- 
tion, and  that  the  porter  will  there  adjust  the  fare. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    CAPITAL,   AND    OTHER    CITIES    OF    GREAT 
RUSSIA 

St.  Petersburg  —  Its  Environs  —  Novgorod  —  Staraia 
Roussa  —  Pskov  —  Tver 


St.  Petersburg. 

The  City  of  Peter  is  the  one  capital  which  was 
made  to  order,  which  arose  from  a  tenantless  plain 
because  it  was  commanded  to  become  the  seat  of 
its  rulers.  Among  cities,  it  was  a  misproduc- 
tion,  conceived  in  the  humours  of  a  conquering 
personality,  sponsored  by  unwilling  subjects,  its 
infancy  attended  by  the  gravest  ills. 

But  no  one  questions  to-day  Tsar  Peter's  in- 
tuition. The  magnificent,  affluent  metropolis  is 
its  own  vindication  of  his  foresight.  When  it  was 
but  a  raw  novice  of  a  city,  he  confidently  gave  it 
his  name.  Where  else  has  a  sovereign  so  splendid 
a  namesake? 

From  the  approaching  train  or  steamer,  it  re- 
calls the  chimerical  Orient.  The  Church  is  the 
imperious  factor  of  the  Empire,  and  it  is  the  archi- 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES     83 

tecture  of  its  Byzantine  temples  which  per- 
vades every  aspect  of  city  and  hamlet.  A  sliining 
diadem  of  pinnacles  and  domes  crowns  the  city 
on  the  banks  of  the  Neva. 

The  impression  that  one  has  entered  a  world 
quite  apart  from  the  west  of  Europe  is  accent- 
uated by  the  sight  of  hieroglyphics  on  wall  and 
sign-board,  by  the  emphatic  colours  that  prevail 
in  garments  and  house  decoration,  and  the  stocks 
of  shop  and  market.  The  expanse  of  the  city  is 
wide  and  its  population  so  dispersed  that  the 
streets,  with  the  exception  of  the  always  teeming 
Nevsky,  are  surprisingly  uncrowdcd.  But  on  the 
world-famous  Perspective  of  the  Neva,  cab  wheels 
often  lock  in  the  crush,  and  the  sidewalk  throngs 
move  in  a  slow  mass  from  daybreak  to  daybreak. 
Revellers  coming  home  from  the  Gardens  meet 
the  factory  hands  going  to  work.  The  Peters- 
burg day  is  never  done.  The  English  and  Ad- 
miralty Quays  are  gay  with  promenaders  and 
fine  ladies  in  fine  carriages.  Up  and  down  the 
Great  Neva  the  little  boats  puff  importantly  car- 
rying produce  and  passengers.  This  stream, 
daughter  of  Lake  Ladoga,  largest  inland  body 
of  water  in  Europe,  divides  the  city  proper  from 
the  Islands,  which  comprise  a  large  territory,  in- 
tersected by  the  Little  Neva  and  Great  Nevka. 


84  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Opposite  the  heart  of  the  city  are  the  Bourse, 
the  Foundling  Asylum,  the  Academies,  the  Naval 
School,  the  main  boat  and  ship  landings,  and  the 
University,  founded  in  1819  and  having  over  ten 
thousand  students.  But  on  the  Admiralty  side 
of  the  river  will  be  found  most  of  the  sights  the 
tourist  has  come  to  see. 

The  three  principal  streets  radiate  from  the 
Alexander  Garden  as  a  centre.  The  canals  run, 
like  those  of  Amsterdam,  in  the  shape  of  a  fan. 
The  three  chief  ones  are  called  the  Fontanka,  the 
Catherine,  and  the  Moika. 

Second  only  to  those  of  Moscow  are  the  church 
edifices  of  Petersburg.  Of  them  all,  St.  Izaak's 
takes  precedence  for  its  opulent  severity.  It 
stands  in  the  Alexander  Garden  near  the  great 
Admiralty  building,  whose  spire  is  gilded  by 
Dutch  ducats  given  to  Peter  the  First.  Across 
the  square  from  the  Cathedral  is  the  statue  of 
Peter  on  a  rearing  horse,  which  was  presented  to 
the  city  by  Catherine  II,  and  which  is  familiar 
to  everyone  who  has  seen  pictures  of  the  capital. 

The  main  cupola  of  St.  Izaak's  and  its  surmount- 
ing lantern  and  cross  are  overlaid  by  two  hun- 
dred pounds  of  gold  leaf.  The  rows  of  pillars 
which  circle  the  porticos,  are  sixty  feet  high,  and 
are   single  shafts  of  Finland  granite.     The   im- 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES     85 

mense  bronze  doors  are  marvels  of  the  founder's 
art.  There  are  columns  of  lapis  lazuli  and  mala- 
chite within,  and  rich  paintings  and  sumptuously 
jewelled  ikoni. 

At  the  "call  to  service,"  the  worshippers  throng 
through  the  doors  to  kneel  or  stand  through  the 
singing  of  psalms,  the  intonations  of  the  priests, 
the  reading  of  the  epistles,  the  chorals  and  ser- 
mon, consecration  of  the  elements,  the  burning 
of  incense  and  chanted  benediction.  Everything 
that  pertains  to  Russian  ecclesiasticism  is  em- 
broidered by  Eastern  precedent.  The  Church  is 
a  descendant  of  Byzantium.  Its  insignia  and 
forms  are  almost  the  same  as  when  Vladimir  the 
First  and  his  subjects  put  off  the  coat  of  pagan- 
ism for  one  of  Christianity.  The  tourist  may 
enter  freely  any  of  the  churches,  which  are  always 
open  at  least  until  dark,  and  where  services  are 
frequently  celebrated. 

From  the  Nevsky,  the  approach  to  tlie  Kazan 
Cathedral  is  across  a  plaza  and  through  a  high 
portico.  This  edifice  might  be  called,  The  Church 
of  Thanksgiving.  Since  1811,  the  royal  family 
have  been  accustomed  to  give  thanks  here  for 
victories  or  delivery  from  danger.  The  outline 
of  the  pillars  is  nearly  obscured  by  trophies  hung 
here  by  victors  of  the  Turks,  Persians,  French, 


86  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

and  Swedes.  The  chapels  and  high  altars  are 
a  showy  mass  of  jewels,  gold,  silver  and  mosaic. 
The  miraculous  Lady  of  Kazan,  said  to  have  been 
'brought  here  from  the  city  on  the  Volga,  blazes 
upon  the  ikonastas,  the  screen  which  in  all  Ortho- 
dox churches  defends  the  Holy  of  Holies  from  the 
chancel.  On  either  side  of  the  Royal  Doors  are 
paintings  of  the  Christ,  the  Virgin,  and  the  saints 
and  apostles.  The  most  venerated  relics  are 
usually  mounted  upon  the  ikonastas.  The  bal- 
ustrade and  screen  of  the  Kazan  are  made  of  one 
and  a  half  tons  of  melted  plate,  re-taken  by  the 
Cossacks  from  the  French  in  1812. 

The  Expiatory  Church  to  the  memory  of  Alex- 
ander Second  is  on  the  edge  of  the  canal  where 
he  fell.  It  is  floridly  painted  on  its  outer  walls, 
and  the  never-ending  cupolas  are  parti-coloured 
and  infinitesimally  cut  in  a  limitless  variety  of 
effects.  The  interior  is  the  usual  superb  assem- 
blage of  priceless  metals,  gems,  and  marbles.  Its 
cost,  about  twenty  million  rubles,  was  defrayed  by 
popular  subscription  to  commemorate  the  mur- 
dered Liberator  of  the  Serfs,  and  Friend  of  Fin- 
land. 

The  plastered  and  white-washed  Pantheon  en- 
closed within  the  fortress  of  Peter  and  Paul  ex- 
ceeds   in    interest   the   costly   display   of   all   the 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES     87 

churches    and    cathedrals    across   the   river.     The 
Trinity  Bridge  is  the  chief  means  of  access  from 
the  main  town  to  the  island  of  the  citadel.     In  the 
fortress  prison,  Alexis,  son  of  Peter  the  Great, 
mysteriously  died.     Man}^  political  prisoners  have 
lived  their  last  hours  here,  and  Stoessel  was  con- 
fined in   an  upper   cell,   after  the  Japanese  war. 
East  of  the  citadel  is  the  hut  in  which  the  founder 
of  the  city  lived  while  forty  thousand  workmen, 
recruited  from  every  part  of  the  Empire,  drained 
the  marsh,  sunk  piles,  built  the  foundation  and, 
often,  died  of  exposure  during  the  creation  of  the 
capital.     The  two  cottage  rooms  are  open  daily; 
one  of  them  is  now  a  chapel  and  contains  the  ikon 
always   carried  by  Peter   on   his  travels.     Hand- 
painted   copies  of  it  cost  but  a  few  rubles.     By 
the  Trinity  Cathedral,  built  after  a  Dutch  Prot- 
estant  church,   is   the  brick   shelter  covering  the 
"  Grandfather  of  the  Russian  Navy,"  which  the 
boy  Peter  discovered  in  a  shed  where  it  had  been 
discarded,    possibly   by    the    Dutch    ship   builders 
whom  Alexis  brought  from  Holland.     Peter  came 
by  his  love  of  the  sea  from  his  father,  who,  how- 
ever, lacked   the   initiative   and   creative   force  of 
his  off-spring. 

Around  the  corner  of  the  fortress,  directly  on 
the  river  bank,  is  the  plain  doorwaj'  of  the  Sep- 


88  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

ulchre  where  lie  Peter  and  all  the  sovereigns  who 
have  since  sat  on  the  throne  of  Russia,  except 
Peter  II,  who  removed  the  court  to  Moscow,  and 
died  there  of  small-pox.  Soldiers  guard  the 
simple  tomb,  and  the  martial  effect  is  heightened 
by  the  banners,  wreaths,  and  keys  which  hang  on 
the  columns.  Each  sarcophagus  bears  the  name 
of  a  sleeping  Tsar  or  his  consort,  the  double  eagle, 
and  an  eternal  light  wreathed  in  gold.  Bosomed 
within  the  feeble  walls  of  the  old  bastion,  this 
unpretentious  chamber  is,  because  of  its  simplicity, 
more  appealing  than  the  mammoth  Pantheons  of 
Rome  or  Paris.  Above  it,  a  thin  gold  spire  an- 
nounces the  resting-place  of  the  Gosiidars. 

By  the  river  at  the  end  of  the  three-mile  Nevsky 
Prospekt,  is  the  spot  where  Alexander  of  the  Neva 
routed  an  army  of  Swedes  and  Chevaliers,  in  1241. 
Peter  I  —  how  impossible  it  is  to  write  of  the  capi- 
tal without  reiterating  this  omnipotent  name !  — 
built  a  chapel  here  in  memory  of  the  warrior,  and 
so  set  the  fashion  for  posterity.  All  over  the  Em- 
pire are  Orthodox  temples  which  bear  the  name  of 
the  sainted  Alexander.  From  Peter's  modest 
chapel  as  a  nucleus,  grew  the  Monastery  of  St. 
Alexander,  the  third  in  the  kingdom  in  prestige 
and  wealth. 

Ten    thousand   "  Black   Priests,"   or   monks,   in 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES     89 

distinction  to  the  "  White  Priests,"  tlie  preachers 
and  pastors  of  the  Church,  inhabit  four  hundred 
and  fifty  monasteries,  which  lift  their  fair  domes 
from  the  White  Sea  Island  of  Solovetsky  to  the 
Promontory  of  Parthenike,  which  cleaves  the 
Euxine.  From  the  Brothers  of  St.  Basil  are 
chosen  the  dignitaries  of  the  Church,  who,  also  in 
distinction  to  the  Whites,  never  marry.  There 
are  three  Russian  Metropolitans,  their  lavras,  or 
seats,  being  at  the  Pcchorski,  the  St.  Sergius,  and 
the  Alexander  Nevsky  Convents,  a  name  which, 
with  the  Russians,  is  interchangeable  with  mon- 
astery. 

In  the  twelve  churches  of  the  latter  are  rich 
tokens  of  past  and  present  devotees.  The  Trin- 
ity Cathedral  encloses  the  relics  of  St.  Alexander 
in  a  catafalque  of  massive  sculptured  silver  of  un- 
imaginable beauty.  There  are  other  munificent 
memorials,  and  some  excellent  copies  of  Rubens 
and  Perugino  hang  on  the  walls.  But  one  for- 
gets them  to  return  again  to  the  saintly  tomb. 

To  this  Cathedral-shrine,  the  imperial  family 
come  on  certain  great  days  in  the  calendar  to 
celebrate  a  "  perfect  mass,"  four  hours  long.  On 
these  occasions,  the  Imperial  Choir  of  boys  and 
men  chant  the  responses  with  a  harmonious  blend 
of   bass    and    soprano   which   has    no   equal   else- 


90  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

where  in  Russia,  certainly  not  in  other  countries. 

Even  more  interesting  than  the  Church  of  the 
Annunciation,  in  which  there  are  crypts  of  dead 
nobihty,  are  the  twin  cemeteries  of  the  monastery 
on  either  side  of  the  little  bridge.  Glinka,  Rubin- 
stein and  Chaikovsky,  Krylov,  Dostoievsky, 
Karamzine,  and  many  other  poets,  authors,  and 
composers,  are  buried  here  amid  a  confusion  of 
other  graves  less  important  to  the  stranger.  The 
right  to  bury  in  these  consecrated  acres  is  an  ex- 
pensive privilege.  Such  revenues  and  many 
other  perquisites  contribute  annually  five  hundred 
thousand  rubles  to  the  lavra  coffers. 

The  Winter  Palace  was  so  named  in  contrast 
to  the  Summer  home  of  royalty  which  used  to  be 
on  the  Fontanka  Canal,  still  one  of  the  boulevards 
of  wealth  and  fashion.  The  huge  structure  of 
red  stucco,  the  hugcst  imperial  residence  extant, 
some  say,  capable  of  housing  six  thousand  people, 
fronts  the  Neva,  and  has  for  its  rear  outlook  the 
unlovely  cobbled  square,  marked  by  the  Alexander 
I  monument,  tallest  monolith  of  modern  times,  and 
bounded  by  the  Staff  Office,  with  its  multiplicity 
of  blinking  windows. 

Authority  to  enter  the  Palace  is  obtained  through 
one's  ambassador.  In  entering  by  the  Jordan 
doorway,   the  permit   is    shown   to   the   official  in 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES     91 

waiting.  The  lower  apartments  belong  to  the  im- 
perial family  and  are  not  on  view.  The  Ambas- 
sadors' Stairway  of  Carrara  marble  mounts  to 
apartments  which  are  the  last  word  in  regal 
grandeur.  The  White  Salon  is  the  most  re- 
nowned. Its  walls  are  covered  with  gold  and  en- 
amelled salvers,  offered  on  state  occasions  by  vari- 
ous municipalities.  The  Court  Balls,  which  are 
unequalled  in  lustre  and  gaiety,  are  given  in  this 
superb  salon. 

The  Hall  of  St.  George,  the  Gilded  Hall,  the 
Pompeian  Gallery,  the  Throne  Room,  the  Pavilion, 
the  Salon  of  the  Field  Marshals,  the  rows  upon 
rows  of  portraits,  the  great  silver  candelabra, 
the  gorgeous  chandeliers,  the  bijou  private  chapel, 
even  the  Treasury  containing  the  Crown  Jewels, 
which  can  be  seen  only  upon  application  to  the 
Minister  of  the  Imperial  Court,  all  are  less  ab- 
sorbing than  the  chamber  to  which  the  "  Royal 
Martyr,"  Alexander  II,  was  brought  when 
wounded  to  the  death.  The  common-place  ap- 
pointments and  the  trivial  belongings,  the  con- 
tents of  his  pockets  turned  out  upon  the  plain 
desk  the  morning  he  died,  speak  eloquently 
of  his  insignificant  wants  in  the  midst  of 
splendor. 
The   adjoining   Hermitage   is   built   on   the   site 


92  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

of  a  pavilion  where  Catherine  the  Vivacious  used 
to  retreat  from  court  life  with  congenial  spirits. 
It  is  a  treasure  house  of  antiquities,  paintings  and 
sculpture  too  little  known  outside  Russia.  Such 
a  gallery  in  any  country  but  Russia  would  of 
itself  attract  troops  of  tourists  yearly.  An  au- 
thority says,  "  The  gallery  of  the  Hermitage  must 
incontestably  be  ranked  with  the  first  of  Europe. 
Its  chief  claim  to  distinction  is  the  fact  that  it 
contains  so  many  examples  of  the  best  epochs 
of  many  schools.  Only  the  Prado,  at  Madrid, 
surpasses  it  for  Spanish  art,  and  the  Louvre  for 
French.  For  the  Flemish  masters  it  rivals  the 
principal  Flemish  collections,  and  as  for  the 
Dutch,  and  especially  for  Rembrandt,  it  is  prob- 
ably the  premier  of  all.  The  Hermitage  possesses 
more  pictures  of  masters  like  Teniers,  Rubens, 
van  Dyck,  and  Jordaens  than  any  other  gallery." 
Botticelli,  da  Vinci,  Titian,  Velasquez,  Pereda, 
Murillo,  van  Eyck,  Cuyp,  Paul  Potter,  Claude 
Lorraine,  Watteau,  and  Greuze  are  all  represented 
by  chef-d'oeuvres.  Catalogues  of  the  various 
schools  are  sold  at  the  entrance."  On  presentation 
of  identity,  strangers  will  be  admitted,  even 
though  the  gallery  be  closed  for  the  Summer  vaca- 
tion. 
Souvenirs  of  Peter  the  Great  are  displayed  in 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES     93 

a   salon    named   for  him,  which   is   joined   to   the 
Second  Hermitage  by  an  arcade. 

A  former  palace  on  the  Michael  Square  houses 
the  Alexander  III  Museum  of  modern  art.  The 
pictures  are  not  so  representatively  Russian  as 
those  of  the  Tretiakov  Gallery,  Moscow.  But 
many  of  them  are  very  fine,  and  it  is  instructive 
to  see  the  Petersburg  collection  first  for  chron- 
ological reasons. 

The  earlier  efforts  of  the  native  painters  are 
after  the  Italian,  Dutch  and  French  manner.  It 
is  interesting  to  trace  the  evolution  from  outside 
influence  into  a  spirit  and  method  startlingly  in- 
dividual. Russian  history  and  myths,  serfdom 
and  village  life,  the  ceremonials  of  the  Church, 
the  level  mystery  of  the  steppes,  the  passes  and 
ravines  of  the  Caucasus,  afford  ample  inspiration 
for  Russians  to  paint  national  scenes. 

The  Russian  School  is  only  about  fifty  years  old, 
but  it  has  emerged  rapidly  from  the  style  of 
Brulov's  "  Last  Days  of  Pompeii  "  and  Chebuiev's 
*'  St.  John  in  the  Desert,"  to  Borisov's  Arctic 
Sketches,  Repine's  Cossacks,  Surikov's  Siberian 
dramas,  Shishkine's  forests,  Bogdanov's  "  Sunday 
Lesson  in  a  Village  School,"  Ge's  studies  of  the 
Church,  and  Aivasovsky's  marines.  The  pictures 
of  Orlovsky,  the   animal  painter,   occupy   an  en- 


94.  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

tire  salon.  Wenig's  "  Young  Russian  Girl  "  has 
a  baffling  smile.  She  might  be  called  a  Russian 
Mona  Lisa.  The  originals  of  Antokolsky's 
Christus,  Socrates,  and  Ivan  the  Terrible  are  here, 
and  other  notable  sculptures,  including  some  of 
Beklemichev's  best  bronzes. 

Across  the  river  in  the  University  section  are 
the  Musuems  of  Zoology  and  Mineralogy,  the 
Academy  of  Sciences,  and  the  Academy  of  Art. 
The  gallery  of  foreign  painters  numbers  such 
names  as  Bouguereau,  Meissonier,  Wouwcrman, 
Diaz,  Dupre,  Bonheur,  Millet,  Courbet,  Troyon, 
Scheffer,  and  Gerome  in  its  catalogues.  The 
Russian  Salon  comprises  a  small  but  choice  selec- 
tion of  native  art. 

The  private  collection  of  Monsieur  Semenov  is 
shown  upon  request.  The  pictures  at  the  Stro- 
ganov  Palace  are  on  public  view  twice  a  week. 

The  Tauride  Palace,  where  the  Duma  sits 
temporarily,  is  not  far  from  the  Palace  of  the 
Stroganovs  at  the  end  of  the  Serghievskaia.  Be- 
yond is  the  Smolni  Convent,  attended  by  noble 
young  Russian  women. 

The  Imperial  Library,  founded  upon  the  rare 
collections  brought  from  Warsaw  upon  the  parti- 
tion of  Poland,  is  one  of  the  most  important  in 
Europe.     It  has  a  million  and  a  half  volumes,  and 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES     95 

twenty-seven  thousand  manuscripts.  Here  and  in 
the  Vatican  are  the  most  ancient  Greek  manu- 
scripts of  the  New  Testament.  The  Ostromir 
manuscript,  dated  1056,  is  the  oldest  known  in 
the  Slavonic.  There  are  hand-written  parchments 
here  which  cannot  be  matched  for  antiquity  in 
the  British  Museum  or  elsewhere. 

A  diverting  hour  may  be  spent  at  the  Imperial 
Museum  of  Carriages  among  a  display  of  vehicles 
varying  from  voiturettes  fit  for  fairy  princesses, 
to  two-wheeled  carts,  and  Peter's  sledge. 

On  the  upper  floor  of  the  Conservatory,  a  noble 
building  on  the  Theatre  Square,  is  a  collection 
of  Glinka  and  Rubinstein  relics.  The  Marie 
Theatre  is  opposite.  It  is  the  home  of  the  Peters- 
burg Opera  and  the  renowned  Imperial  Ballets. 
The  Alexandra  Theatre  is  on  the  Alexandra 
Square  near  the  Library.  The  Dowager  Em- 
press Marie  has  her  Petersburg  residence  in  the 
old  palace  of  the  Anitchkovs,  at  the  end  of  the 
Anitchkov  Bridge,  which  is  particularly  notice- 
able for  the  colossal  bronze  horses  of  Baron 
Klodt. 

There  are  several  statues  of  greater  or  less 
artistic  value  set  in  parks  and  squares  in  memory 
of  Nicholas  I,  Catherine  II,  Alexander  HI  (a 
bulky  figure  on  an  immense  horse,  the  work  of 


96  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Prince  Paul  Troubetzkoy),  of  Krylov,  the  fable 
maker,  Glinka,  the  best-loved  composer,  the  pa- 
triot-poet Pushkine,  and  Lermontov,  his  brother 
poet,  whose  life  ran  so  strangely  parallel  with 
his  own.  A  group  which  depicts  Peter  strug- 
gling in  the  Neva  to  save  the  drowning  sailors, 
was  set  up  last  year  near  the  Senate  by  His 
Imperial  Highness,  Nicholas  II.  Last  year  also 
saw  the  unveiling  of  a  handsome  bronze  commem- 
orating the  Russian  heroes  of  the  Japanese  war. 

Shopping  in  St.  Petersburg  is  a  doubtful  pleas- 
ure, unless  one  can  indulge  whims  in  the  super- 
cilious shops  of  the  Bolshai'a  Morskaia  and  the 
Nevsky,  among  an  extravagance  of  furs,  and 
porcelains. 

The  Gostinny  Dvor,  the  "  Great  Bazaar  "  of  two 
hundred  shops,  covers  a  square  fronting  on  the 
Nevsky.  Enticing  as  the  booths  and  windows  ap- 
pear at  first  glance,  they  are  disappointing  in 
reality,  for  native  merchandise  so  often  gives 
place  to  sordid  products  of  Germany  and  Aus- 
tria. One  even  suspects  the  ikoni  and  Caucasian 
silver-ware  and  Circassian  belts,  the  Lapland 
slippers  and  the  Siberian  stones. 

In  Moscow,  the  joys  of  bargaining  are  enhanced 
by  the  feeling  that  the  laces  are  really  made 
in  Riazan   or  Kaluga,   the   shawls   in  Orenburg, 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES     9T 

the  toys  in  the  Serglevsky  Possad,  the  pottery  in 
Poltava,  the  baskets  in  Viatka,  the  wooden  spoons 
in  the  Balakna  District,  the  enamels  in  Moscow 
cellars,  and  the  samovars  in  Tula  or  Yaroslav. 

Three  of  the  most  frequented  Petersburg  mar- 
kets are  in  or  near  Sadovaia,  or  Garden,  Street, 
The  provision  market  displays  the  vegetables  of 
Rostov  and  Little  Russia,  the  fruits  of  the  Baltic 
provinces,  Central  Russia,  the  Crimea  and  the 
Caucasus,  butter  and  eggs  and  beef  from  Siberia, 
and  fish  from  many  rivers  and  inland  seas.  The 
Alexandrovsky  New  Market,  in  Great  Sadovaia, 
sells  second-hand  furniture,  and  the  Mareenski 
rewards  those  who  search  for  antique  odds  and 
ends. 

The  Islands  are  the  pride  of  Petersburg. 
There  are  over  forty  in  the  Neva  delta.  On  many 
of  them  are  villas  of  the  rich,  and  al  fresco  re- 
sorts, set  in  parks  entwined  by  rambling  streams 
and  edged  by  the  Gulf.  By  seven  o'clock  of  a 
Summer's  night,  half  Petersburg,  with  his  wife 
or  sweetheart,  is  speeding  by  drosky,  tram,  motor- 
car, or  river  boat  to  verdant  delights  awaiting 
them  on  the  islands  of  Kammeny,  Krestovsky, 
Novaia   Derevnia   and  Yelaghine.     The    Summer 

and  Zoological  Gardens,  and  others,  more  or  less 

select,  receive  the  other  half. 


98  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Local  steamboats  leave  everj'  few  minutes  on  the  Cath- 
erine, Fontanka,  and  MoTka  Canals,  and  on  the  Great  Neva 
for  the  Kalinkine  Bridge,  the  Field  of  Mars,  and  the  Fin- 
land Station.  Fare,  3 -5k.  Steamers  to  the  Islands  leave 
from  the  Summer  Garden  every  twenty  minutes.  Fare,  5k. 
to  5:00  p.  31.,  10k.  from  5:00  p.  M.-ll  :45  p.  m. 

The  fare  on  electric  trams  is  5k.  each  ticket. 

Excursions. —  Schliisselburg. 

En  route  to  the  source  of  the  Neva,  the  boat 
passes  manufacturing  villages,  chateaux  on  wooded 
hills,  and  handsome  estates.  Schliisselburg,  the 
town,  is  at  the  point  where  the  river  leaves  the 
lake,  carrying  with  it  the  waters  of  many  Fin- 
land lakes.  The  canals  of  Lake  Ladoga  are  a 
link  in  the  chain  of  waterways  which  makes  it 
possible  for  boats  to  pass  from  the  Caspian  Sea, 
up  the  Volga,  and  on  to  Archangel  into  the  White 
Sea,  completely  traversing  the  length  of  the  Em- 
pire. 

The  citadel,  which  Peter  took  from  the  Swedes 
after  years  of  contention,  was  considered  so  im- 
portant that  he  named  it  in  German,  The  Key 
Fort.  It  is  a  small  round  fortress  on  an  island 
in  the  river,  and  is  reached  by  boats  from  the 
docks  of  the  little  city.  The  citadel  is  a  State 
prison,  where  many  dramas  have  been  staged.  In- 
cluding the  stories  of  imperial  characters,  and 
political    offenders.     Those    who    are    committed 


MONUMKXT    IX    ST.    PETERSIiUKG    TO    MEMORY    OF    SOL- 
DIERS   KILLED    IN    JAPANESE    WAR 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES     99 

here    remain    for    life.     "  He    who    enters    never 
emerges,"  might  be  carved  over  its  doors. 

The  Schliisselburg  boats  leave  about  every  other  hour  from 
a  dock  near  the  Summer  Garden.  The  trip  to  Lake  La- 
doga consumes  four  hours,  passing  through  the  Neva  Rap- 
ids. Returning  down  stream,  about  three  hours.  Fare, 
one  way,  R.LOO. 

Kronstadt. 

The  island  fort  which  has  for  its  special  mis- 
sion the  defence  of  the  capital,  lies  almost  at  the 
extreme  point  of  the  narrow  bay  separating  In- 
gria  from  Finland.  The  city  of  Kronstadt  has 
a  population  of  sixty  thousand,  made  up  chiefly 
of  labourers  in  the  dock-yards,  and  representatives 
of  the  army  and  navy  in  the  various  barracks 
and  arsenals. 

Those  interested  in  seeing  rather  obsolete  forti- 
fications and  ship-building  yards  will  find  pleasure 
in  the  forty-mile  excursion  down  the  Bay  of  Kron- 
stadt. 

Boats  for  Kronstadt  leave  several  times  a  day  from  the 
pier  opposite  No.  8  Line,  Vassily  Ostrov.  Time  of  trip, 
about  two  hours.     Fare,  60k. 

Peterhof  —  Oranienbaum. 

On  a  June  or  July  Sunday,  the  Russian  Versailles 
is  at  its  best.     The  imperial  park  and  residence 


100  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

are  on  a  rise  above  the  Gulf  of  Finland.  The 
maisonettes  occupied  by  various  royalties  when 
wearied  by  ostentation,  Peter's  Dutch  villa,  "  Mon 
Plaisir,"  the  Greek  Temple,  the  church,  the  many 
statues,  kiosks,  pools  and  gardens  are  all  sub- 
servient to  the  Grand  Chateau,  so  frequently 
visited  by  the  present  reigning  family.  The 
Tsarevich  was  born  here  in  1904.  The  red  and 
white  structure  topped  by  the  inevitable  gold 
domes,  is  at  the  head  of  an  avenue  bordered  by 
trees,  and  ornamented  by  leaping  fountains  and 
statuary  veiled  in  spray.  In  the  palace,  are 
portraits,  tapestries,  and  royal  souvenirs.  On 
Sundays,  when  there  is  often  military  music  in  the 
park,  the  fountains  play,  the  unequalled  display 
being  witnessed  by  hundreds  who  have  come  out 
from  the  city  or  near-by  suburbs. 

A  trip  to  the  smaller  palace  at  Oranienbaum 
may  be  included  in  the  same  day's  excursion,  re- 
turning to  Petersburg  direct.  The  park  encloses 
several  attractive  and  fanciful  villas,  built  by  the 
Empresses  Elizabeth  and  Catherine,  and  Peter 
III.  The  route  by  carriage  or  train  from  Peters- 
burg to  Peterhof  and  Oranienbaum  passes  a  suc- 
cession of  beautiful  dachi,  or  Summer  homes,  as 
well  as  the  Convent  of  St.  Sergius  and  the 
Chateau  at  Strelna, 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES  101 

The  boats  for  Peterhof  leave  opposite  No.  8  Line,  Vassily 
Ostrov,  and  pass  out  the  Neva  to  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  from 
which  there  is  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  shore  and  its 
many  sights.  Sailings  are  frequent.  Time  of  trip,  about 
an  hour.     Fare,  60k. 

The  landing  is  at  the  Merchant  Port.  Cab  from  the  land- 
ing in  the  lower  park  to  the  town,  30k.  About  Rs.1.25 
insures  an  hour's  drive  in  the  Park.  Permits  to  enter  are 
obtained  at  the  office  of  the  Chateau.  The  palace  may  be 
seen,  when  the  family  is  not  in  residence,  by  feeing  a  do- 
mestic. Cameras  are  not  permitted  except  on  special  au- 
thority.    This  rule  applies  to  all  royal  estates. 

The  Peterhof  boats  continue  a  short  distance  to  Oranien- 
baum.  From  there  there  is  boat  connection  for  Kronstadt, 
a  half  hour  away.     Fare,  15k. 

Trains  leave  the  Baltic  Station,  Petersburg,  for  Peterhof 
and  Oranienbaum  every  half  hour.  Time,  one  hour  to 
Peterhof.  First-class,  60k.  Oranienbaum,  one  and  a  half 
hours.     Fare,  83k. 

The  two  stations  at  Peterhof  are  both  about  a  half-hour 
from  the  park. 

The  drive  out  the  coast  road  to  Peterhof  with  two  horses 
consumes  about  three  hours.  Round  trip  fare,  10-12  ru- 
bles. 

Krasnoe-Selo  and  Gatshina. 

Near  the  delightful  village  of  Krasnoe-Selo 
(Selo  meaning  village),  is  the  Summer  military 
camp.  In  the  centre  of  the  field  is  Duderhof 
Hill,  the  only  rise  of  any  height  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Petersburg.  About  two  hours'  drive 
from  the  station  is  the  imperial  farm,  the  house 
being  in  the  form  of  a  great  izba,  or  peasant's 
cottage. 


102  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

On  the  Black  and  White  Lake,  beyond  Krasnoe- 
Selo,  is  the  attractive  town  of  Gatshina.  Not  far 
from  the  station  is  the  summer  home  of  the 
Dowager  Empress  Marie,  widow  of  Alexander  III, 
mother  of  Tsar  Nicholas,  and  sister  to  the  Dowa- 
ger Queen  of  England.  Scattered  among  the  parks 
and  woods  of  these  outlying  towns  are  hundreds 
of  pretty  houses  and  terraced  lawns. 

Krasnoe-Selo  is  about  three-quarters  of  an  hour  by  rail 
from  the  Baltic  Station  at  Petersburg;  Gatshina  is  reached 
by  lines  from  both  the  Baltic  and  the  Warsaw  Stations. 
Time,  about  an  hour  and  a  half.  Fares,  first-class,  55k. 
and  98k.  respectively. 

Tsarskoe-Selo  and  Pavlovsk. 

It  is  said  that  the  park  at  Tsarskoe-Selo  ("  The 
Tsar's  Village  ")  is  the  most  scrupulously  tended 
of  all  parks,  royal  or  otherwise. 

The  tourist  will  not  be  long  in  Russia  before  the 
impression  is  forced  upon  him  that  its  sights  re- 
quire an  exaggeration  of  superlatives.  Under 
absolute  monarchism,  herculean  efforts  and  ex- 
orbitant expenditure  are  inspired  by  imperial 
whims  and  vanities.  The  revenues  of  the  Crown 
from  mines  and  millions  of  timbered  acres,  are  so 
stupendous  that  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
palaces  are  maintained,  whereas  other  sovereigns 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES  103 

tlian  the  Tsar  must  content  themselves  with  a 
modest  half  dozen. 

The  Russian  Croesus  demands  the  best,  the  most, 
the  largest,  the  fastest,  the  most  extravagant  of 
material  things.  Potemkine  served  bowls  of 
pearls  to  his  dinner  guests,  and  sugared  the  high- 
way in  Summer  for  the  sledge  ride  of  fanciful 
Catherine.  The  country  is  so  great,  so  wide,  its 
resources  are  so  incalculably  many,  though  even 
yet  only  scantily  developed,  that  the  spirit  of 
spacious  liberality  is  in  all  that  concerns  the  well- 
dowered  Russian. 

This  digression  anent  superlatives  is  actuated  by 
the  extravagant  order  of  the  Tsarskoe-Selo  Park. 
A  fallen  leaf  is  an  offence,  even  the  ripple  of  a 
pool  is  regarded  dubiously  by  the  keepers,  lest 
it  should  grow  to  a  wavelet  and  splash  the  im- 
maculate pebbles  of  the  bordering  path.  Hun- 
dreds of  workmen  spend  the  Summer  days  snip- 
ping, pruning,  scraping  until  the  very  tree  trunks 
shine,  and  the  turf  lies  across  lawns  and  hillocks 
with  the  smoothness  of  a  Kouba  carpet.  The 
Park  is  lavishly  ornamented  with  arches,  columns, 
grottos,  and  fountains,  a  Chinese  village,  a 
theatre,  and  graceful  bridges. 

The  green  and  white  palace  was  erected,  like 
the   original  Winter  Palace,   the  Anitchkov   and 


104  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

the  Stroganov  Palaces,  on  the  plans  of  the  ar- 
chitect Rastrelli,  and  contains  furnishings,  pic- 
tures, and  decorations  of  great  elegance.  A  ser- 
vant will  conduct  visitors  through  the  salons  and 
galleries. 

The  Alexander  Palace  near  by  is  the  favourite 
summer  retreat  of  the  Empress  Alexandra  and 
her  five  children. 

If  one  goes  to  Tsarskoe-Selo  in  the  afternoon, 
he  may  dine  in  the  evening  at  the  Vauxhall  res- 
taurant, Pavlovsk,  about  three  and  a  half  miles 
further  on.  This  restaurant  beside  the  station 
is  renowned  for  its  excellent  concerts,  for  which 
there  is  no  additional  charge. 

The  chateau  of  the  Grand  Duke  Constantine  is 
in  an  exquisite  park  in  the  near  vicinity.  Pav- 
lovsk (pertaining  to  Paul)  was  once  the  property 
of  Tsar  Paul,  son  of  Catherine  the  Great.  The 
grounds  contain  a  profusion  of  pavilions,  memo- 
rials, statues,  and  beautiful  groupings  of  trees 
and  water.  It  can  hardly  be  surpassed  as  a  per- 
fect expression  of  the  landscape  gardener's  art. 


From  the  Tsarskoe-Selo  Station,  Petersburg,  trains  leave 
for  Tsarskoe-Selo  and  Pavlovsk  nearly  every  hour,  taking 
about  a  half-hour  for  the  trip.  Fares,  first-class,  95k.  and 
Rs.1.10  respectively. 

Two   fast   expresses,  having  sleeping-cars   attached,  leave 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES  105 

the  Nicholas  Station,  Petersburg,  every  night  for  Moscow, 
eleven  hours  away.  Distance,  four  hundred  miles. 
About  seventy-five  miles  south  of  Petersburg  is  Tschu- 
dovo,  where  the  line  branches  to  Novgorod,  eight  hours  dis- 
tant from  Petersburg.  Upon  leaving  Novgorod,  the  trav- 
eller may  continue  to  Staraia-Roussa,  and  either  go  west  to 
Pskov  and  on  to  the  German  frontier,  or  return  to  the 
trunk  line  at  Bologoe,  which  is  half  way  to  Moscow  from 
Petersburg.  Or  he  can  retrace  his  steps  by  way  of  Tschu- 
dovo,  proceeding  thence  to  Petersburg  or  Moscow. 

Novgorod. 

Time  was  when  the  inhabitants  of  Novgorod 
boasted,  "  Who  can  resist  the  gods  and  Novgorod 
the  Great.''"  But  the  ages  have  conquered  the 
proud  monarch  of  Russian  cities,  which  once  had 
four  hundred  thousand  population.  It  was  in 
the  "  New  City  "  that  the  viking,  Rurik,  admin- 
istered the  first  formal  government  of  the  nation. 
From  a  settlement  on  the  Volkhov,  it  grew  to  an 
independent  republic.  Its  commerce  extended 
from  the  Volga  to  the  Baltic.  But  its  power  de- 
clined after  Kiev  became  the  capital.  Ivan  III 
undertook  and  Ivan  IV  completed  its  subjugation. 
The  one  thousandth  anniversary  of  the  founding, 
not  only  of  the  city,  but  of  the  Russian  Empire, 
was  celebrated  in  1862  by  the  dedication  of  a 
monument  to  Rurik. 

The  atmosphere  of  the  streets  reflects  antiquity 
and    former    lordliness.     Of   all    the    edifices,    the 


106  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Cathedral  of  St.  Sophia  is  the  most  notable.  On 
its  cupolas,  there  is  no  crescent  beneath  the  cross, 
which  signifies  that  the  Tatars  never  succeeded  in 
entering  the  city.  This  distinction  exists  in  Rus- 
sia. The  municipalities  re-conquered  from  the 
Mongols  bear  the  emblem  of  former  Asiatic 
supremacy,  surmounted  now  by  the  victorious 
cross.  The  Cathedral  was  built  first  of  wood  in 
989,  and  then  in  stone,  1045-1052,  by  architects 
from  the  Hellenes.  The  intricately  sculptured 
bronze  doors  lead  to  a  straight  high  interior, 
lighted  by  a  lofty  dome,  under  which  the  treas- 
ures are  seen  dimly. 

The  altars  of  the  six  chapels  are  decorated  with 
Byzantine  glass  mosaic.  There  are  gilded  wood 
thrones  for  Tsar  and  Metroplitan,  and  many 
precious  antiquities,  but  the  treasure  of  treasures 
is  the  miracle  ikon  of  the  Mother  of  God,  mounted 
on  the  screen.  This  painting  Is  the  oldest  rep- 
resentation of  the  Virgin  In  Russia.  It  is  copied 
and  worshipped  from  one  end  of  the  realm  to  the 
other.  The  canvas  is  cracked  and  the  likeness 
crude  anatomically,  but  the  picture  is  dressed 
in  gems  and  shrouded  in  gold.  The  Novgorod- 
ians  attest  that  their  Mater  Dolorosa  wept  veri- 
table tears  when  the  city  suffered. 

In  the  court  of  the  church  is  a  tower  almost  five 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES  107 

hundred  years  old,  and  behind  it,  a  Museum  of 
Antiquities,  well  worth  seeing.  The  Consistory 
and  the  Bishops'  Palace  complete  the  group  of 
Kremlin  buildings.  Across  the  bridge,  from 
which  there  is  a  characteristic  view  of  the  Lake 
Ilmen  and  a  monastery  built  in  1030,  are  the 
shops,  a  ruined  tower,  schools,  old  fortifications, 
and  other  churches. 

Staraia-Roussa  and  Pskov. 

This  city,  the  name  of  which,  "  Old  Roussa," 
indicates  its  antiquity,  is  four  hours  south  of 
Novgorod,  not  far  from  the  foot  of  Lake  Ilmen. 
Its  foundations  were  laid  in  the  earlier  centuries 
of  our  era.  It  has  nineteen  churches  and  con- 
vents, and  an  imperial  palace.  It  is  chiefly 
visited  now-a-days  by  archaeologists  and  patrons 
of  the  salt  baths,  which  Catherine  II  developed. 
Staraia-Roussa  stands  half  way  between  Pskov 
on  the  west  and  Bologoe  on  the  east. 

Pskov  is  nearly  as  old  as  Novgorod  and  possesses 
a  similar  history,  and  archaic  monuments.  There 
is  a  private  collection  of  remarkable  antiques  in 
this  exceedingly  ancient  town.  Eight  miles  from 
Pskov  is  the  birth-place  of  Olga,  who  became 
the  wife  of  Igor,  Prince  of  Kiev;  she,  of  all  the 
Russian  kingdom,  first  espoused  the  Christian  re- 


108  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

ligion.  The  Cathedral  of  the  Trinity,  said  to  be 
on  the  site  of  a  church  built  by  St.  Olga  in  the 
year  she  became  a  convert,  is  in  the  Pskov  Kremlin 
and  is  a  noble  edifice  associated  with  much  of  the 
early  history  of  this  part  of  Great  Russia.  The 
city  lies  on  the  banks  of  two  small  rivers  at  the 
foot  of  the  Peipus  Sea. 

The  railways  from  Riga  to  Bologoe  and  from  the  frontier 
of  Germany  to  Petersburg  cross  at  Pskov.  Bologoe  is  two 
hundred  and  ten  miles  to  the  east,  or  about  twelve  hours 
by  slow  train.  Part  of  the  way  is  among  the  Valdai  Hills, 
where  the  Duna,  the  Dniepr  and  the  Volga  have  their  be- 
ginning. 

Due  east  of  Bologoe,  beyond  the  St.  Petersburg-Moscow 
line,  is  Rybinsk,  nine  hours  by  train.  Passengers  who 
wish  to  begin  the  Volga  trip  near  the  head  of  navigation 
may  continue  to  Rybinsk.  Those  who  join  the  line  for 
Moscow  will  pass  through  Tver,  which  is  half  way  between 
Bologoe  and  Moscow. 

Tver. 

At  Tver,  navigation  on  the  Volga  begins,  but 
frequently  in  Summer  the  river  is  so  low  that  the 
boat  service  is  not  dependable.  Industrially, 
Tver  is  famous  for  the  fabrication  of  cottons. 
Its  birth  dates  back  to  1181,  placing  it  among 
the  oldest   of  Russian  communities. 

On  the  banks  of  the  Volga  and  along  the  rail- 
way, the  plain  landscape  is  varied  by  the  towers 
and  gables  of  many  convents.     Occasionally,  the 


THE  CAPITAL,  AND  OTHER  CITIES  109 

Brothers,  or,  if  it  is  one  of  the  two  hundred 
convents  for  women,  the  Sisters  can  be  seen  walk- 
ing under  the  trees. 

When  the  depth  of  the  water  permits,  the  boats  leave 
every  day  for  Rybinsk.  The  trip  of  over  a  day  and  a 
night  through  monotonous  country,  costs  Rs.6.00,  first- 
class,  and  Rs.4.80,  second,  including  cabin,  but  not  includ- 
ing linen  or  meals. 

Three  hours  after  leaving  Tver,  the  express  enters  the 
Nicholas  Station,  Moscow. 


CHAPTER  VII 

MOSCOW  AND  THE  TROITSA  MONASTERY 

Moscow. 

We  name  Moscow  "  The  Indescribable,"  and 
forthwith,  bewitched  by  her  spell,  essay  to  de- 
scribe her.  We  bombard  the  Kremlin  with  ad- 
jectives, assail  the  view  from  the  Moskvaretsky 
Bridge  with  an  artillery  of  enthusiasms,  array 
our  forces  to  recount  the  street  life  and  details 
of  ecclesiastic  processions,  we  lay  siege  to  her 
charms  and  scale  the  citadel  of  her  fascinations, 
but  in  the  end  we  desist  through  lack  of  am- 
munition. History,  mood,  fable,  and  caprice 
unite  to  baffle  us.  Moscow  remains  the  Indescrib- 
able. 

And  yet,  it  is  the  most  material  of  cities:  Reli- 
gious devotion  is  measured  by  depth  of  genuflec- 
tion and  richness  of  gifts ;  sins  are  expiated  by 
fulfilling  the  exactions  of  the  liturgy ;  no  brocade 
is  too  heavy  for  the  robes  of  the  clergy ;  the  shops 
of  the  Petrovka  and  the  Kuznetzky  Most  radiate 
expensiveness   and   fashion ;  the  public  buildings 

110 


MOSCOW  111 

are  spacious  and  handsome ;  the  hotels  are  luxuri- 
ous, the  entertainments  at  Yar,  the  Hermitage, 
and  Strelna  costly  and  often  boisterous. 

But  the  spirit  of  Mother  Moscow  broods  over 
all.  You  hear  the  pilgrims  singing  in  the  moon- 
lit street,  banner  in  one  hand,  staff  in  the  other; 
you  witness  the  fervid  kissing  of  the  miracle  ikon 
at  the  side-walk  shrine;  you  watch  the  bartering 
of  tangled  races,  speaking  strange  tongues ;  you 
brush  against  priests  with  long  beards,  long  hair 
and  still  longer  robes ;  you  climb  to  the  work- 
shops of  lapidaries  cutting  Asiatic  stones ;  you 
handle  dim  parchments  writ  in  Old  Slavonic;  you 
smile  at  bloused  and  booted  Stepka,  come  in  from 
the  provinces  with  wide-eyed  Masha;  you  stare  at 
the  high  fur  bonnets  of  the  Cossack  and  the  brown 
kaftan  of  the  merchant ;  you  dismiss  a  "  baba  " 
who  would  sell  you  sunflower  seeds ;  you  pity  the 
group  who  have  lost,  or  neglected,  or  falsified 
their  passports  and,  in  consequence,  are  marched 
through  the  streets  to  police  headquarters ;  you 
delve  in  queer  markets  for  brasses  and  yellowing 
books ;  in  the  traktir  you  are  served  by  a  Tatar 
to  rak,  and  srazis,  and  ch;ii ;  you  drive  behind  a 
padded  Great  Russian,  and  catch  beyond  his  blue 
shoulder  the  hint  of  a  crenellated  tower  against 
a  reddening  sky ;  and  wherever  you  turn,  there 


112  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

are  flighty  domes,  flattened  bulbs,  and  the  two- 
armed  cross  of  Byzantium,  hung  with  filigree 
chains. 

The  Church  of  St.  Basil,  completed  in  1557,  is 
an  excellent  landmark  for  the  guidance  of  new- 
comers. Once  seen,  it  cannot  be  forgotten,  and, 
as  it  stands  at  one  end  of  the  Red  Square,  which 
divides  the  Kremlin  Quarter  from  the  commercial 
city,  and  is  in  the  centre  of  the  sight-seers'  Mos- 
cow, it  will  be  useful  to  remember  it. 

Polite  narrators  say  the  Tatar  edifice  is 
"  quaint,"  "  unusual,"  "  interesting."  It  is,  in 
truth,  interesting  to  observe  the  lengths  to  which 
architectural  imagination  can  go.  Sundry 
legends  disagree  as  to  the  responsibility  for  its 
construction ;  some  accuse  the  Italians,  others,  the 
Germans,  and  still  others  foist  it  upon  the  Rus- 
sians themselves.  It  is  decorated  in  a  manner 
as  variegated  as  it  is  flagrant.  Instead  of  the  us- 
ual bulbous  cupolas,  it  is  crowned  by  a  series  of 
towers  cut  in  zigzag  relief,  in  diamonds,  in 
spirals,  and  desquamated  scales,  painted  in  raw 
colours,  crudely  laid  on,  inharmonious  and  clash- 
ing. 

The  supporting  tambours  and  domes  occupy  in 
height  two  tiers  of  the  edifice.  The  outlines  of 
the  building  itself  disappear  under  its  ornamental 


MOSCOW  113 

details.  There  are  eleven  chapels  adjoined  and 
juxtaposed,  each  topped  by  a  dome,  and  linked 
within  by  low  corridors,  which  are,  in  turn, 
painted  in  swirls  of  primal  colours.  The  way  to 
the  interior  is  by  a  crumbling  perron  through 
doors  now  rarely  opened  except  to  the  curious. 
In  the  basement  across  a  stone  court  from  the 
street,  are  several  chapels  smelling  heavily  of 
incense. 

An  honest  guide  will  say  the  style  is  more  un- 
couth than  beautiful  or  "  quaint."  "  Unusual  " 
it  certainly  is.  There  never  has  been,  and  never 
will  be  another  like  it. 

On  the  Square  before  the  Cathedral  is  the  forum 
where  ukases  and  proclamations  are  announced 
to  the  populace.  And  further  on,  down  one  side 
of  the  Krasnaia  Plotschad,  or  Red  Square,  ex- 
tends the  quite  modern  Gallery  of  Commerce,  the 
most  enormous  of  its  kind,  if  one  excepts  the 
Central  Building  of  the  Nizhni  Novgorod  fair. 
It  is  built  in  a  series  of  arcades  and  contains  an 
endless  number  of  stalls  and  shops  for  the  sale 
of  enamels  and  mosaics,  of  papier  mache,  which 
simulates  enamel,  of  lapis  lazuli  ornaments  and 
Circassian  jewellery,  of  big  ikoni  for  chapel  altars 
and  little  ones  to  be  worn  on  a  chain,  of  military 
decorations,  and  woolens,  and  shoes. 


114  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

The  Nikolskaia  (Street  of  Nicholas),  on  which 
this  great  bazaar  fronts,  leads  out  of  the  Square 
behind  the  statue  to  Minine,  the  cattle  dealer  of 
Nizhni,  and  the  patriot  Pojarsky,  who  delivered 
Moscow  from  the  Poles  in  1612.  This  thorough- 
fare contains  several  stores,  some  highly-coloured 
church  buildings,  a  Greek  convent,  and  a  chapel 
which  is  always  crowded  with  those  who  believe  in 
the  powers  of  its  wonder-ikon. 

In  the  Nikolskaia  is  a  pale  green  building  in- 
crusted  with  white  stucco  ornamentation.  From 
its  almost  frivolous  exterior,  no  one  would  guess 
that  here  was  the  oldest  printing  establishment 
of  Russia.  To-day,  the  placid  hum  and  rumble 
of  linotypes  and  presses  say  little  or  nothing  of  the 
tempestuous  scenes  which  attended  the  founding 
of  the  Typography  of  Holy-Synod. 

Ivan  the  Terrible,  who  was  progressive  and 
clever  as  well  as  crafty  and  cruel,  had  news  of 
the  new  printing  art,  which  the  Italians  had 
learned  and  were  practising  in  Venice,  He  made 
investigations  looking  to  the  establishment  of  a 
printing  press  in  Moscow,  but  was  opposed  by 
those  who  feared  the  decay  of  the  art  of  hand 
printing.  Encouraged  by  his  sovereign's  interest, 
a  deacon  of  the  Kremlin,  Ivan  Feodorov,  who  was 
very    scholarly    and   knew   much   of   ecclasiastical 


MOSCOW  115 

literature,  undertook  to  learn  how  to  set  up  the 
Evangels,  the  Psalms,  the  Acts  of  Apostles  in 
type.  In  Lithuania,  then  a  part  of  Poland,  there 
had  previously  been  a  printery.  To  his  aid  Dea- 
con Ivan  called  one  Peter  Mstislavez,  who  had 
already  acquired  the  coveted  knowledge.  The 
monks  and  artisans,  who  depended  upon  the  writ- 
ing and  illumination  of  church!}'  parchments  for 
their  occupation  and  livelihood,  arose  and  clam- 
oured loudly  against  the  intrusion  of  the  mystic 
trade.  But  the  Metropolitan  Makary  gave  his 
sanction  and  protection  to  the  efforts  of  the  Rus- 
sian and  his  confrere,  the  Lithuanian.  With  both 
Church  and  State  upon  their  side,  the  two  set  up 
a  press  in  a  building  on  the  site  of  the  present 
print-shop,  and  prepared,  with  many  doubts  and 
much  labour,  to  issue  a  copy  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  Before  the  work  was  complete,  their 
patron,  Makary,  died.  His  influence  removed, 
the  populace  again  beat  upon  the  doors  of  tlie 
humble  shop,  and  threatened  to  destroy  the  pro- 
moters of  the  Black  Art.  But  the  printers  kept 
on  steadfastly  until  one  day,  April  nineteenth, 
1563,  they  laid  in  the  hands  of  the  Tsar  a  com- 
pleted book  made  after  the  manner  of  the  Italian 
tomes  of  which  Ivan  had  heard. 

With  the  art  fairly  established  and  their  trade 


116  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

definitely  threatened,  the  people  cried  even  louder 
against  the  wizards  who  had  supplanted  type  for 
quills,  and  rollers  for  brass  ink-pots.  More  — 
they  so  seriously  vowed  to  kill  them,  that  Feodo- 
rov  and  Mstislavez  fled  from  Moscow  to  the  typog- 
raphy in  Lithuania,  where  men  were  less  jealous 
of  an  antiquated  craft.  Feodorov  never  dared  to 
return  to  his  own  country  and  died  in  Lithuania, 
an  exile  because  of  premature  zeal,  a  martyr  to 
the  ignorance  of  men  whose  descendants  raised  in 
his  memory  a  recent  statue  on  a  square  near  the 
locale  of  his  labours. 

When  the  Poles  entered  Moscow,  they  burned 
the  printers'  shop,  but  in  the  next  century  it  was 
restored,  and  has  since  been  remodelled.  It  is 
still  almost  exclusively  given  to  the  production  of 
books  relating  to  the  Church. 

Across  a  rear  court,  a  roofed  and  very  quaint 
stairway  ascends  to  a  door  which  a  tall  man  must 
stoop  to  enter.  It  opens  into  a  corridor,  arched 
and  frescoed  in  the  fashion  of  the  middle  ages. 
On  the  left  is  a  library,  which  contains  the  fateful 
book  which  brought  about  Feodorov's  flight.  There 
is  also  the  model  of  his  first  press,  and  the  press 
which  Peter  the  Great  sometimes  carried  on  his 
expeditions  to  many  lands.  Among  the  original 
manuscripts  of  authors  whose  volumes  were  pub- 


MOSCOW  117 

llshed  in  the  old  shop  is  one  by  Peter,  an  account 
in  his  own  hand  of  a  battle  near  Kalish,  Poland. 

In  tolerant  memory  of  the  monks  who  would  have 
killed  the  first  Russian  typographer,  there  are 
some  precious  sheets  written  in  remote  monasteries. 
A  Book  of  Service  for  September,  dated  1095, 
approaches  the  Ostromir  in  antiquity.  All  the 
parchments  are  inscribed  in  Old  Slavonic,  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Church,  which  is  understood  by  only 
the  celebrants  of  the  service  and  educated  laymen. 
A  book  of  ecclesiastical  talcs  of  the  fourteenth 
century  is  gaudily  illustrated  in  water  colours  by  a 
Brother  who  had  evidently  more  ardour  than  talent. 

Every  day,  an  old  scholar  sits  here  in  the 
medieval  chamber,  and  copies  in  a  punctilious  hand 
from  the  faint  pages  of  treatises  on  the  Scrip- 
tures. He  is  compiling  a  commentary  on  the 
Psalms,  and  has  the  privilege  of  resorting  to  these 
manuscripts  of  inestimable  value,  because  he  has 
himself  given  to  the  library-museum  a  number  of 
rare  examples  of  a  vanished  art.  The  light  beams 
through  dormer  windows  on  his  aureole  of  snow- 
white  hair.  He  wears  a  long  beard  which  falls 
to  his  brown,  loosely-belted  smock.  On  his  bare 
feet  are  sandals.  The  arched  ceiling  curves  low 
to  leaded  casements ;  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac  and 
fanciful  arabesques  are  painted  on  the  walls.     In 


118  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

the  midst  of  Ancient  Muscovy,  the  old  student, 
making  his  careful  annotations,  is  the  embodiment 
of  the  days  the  monks  were  loth  to  have  disappear. 

Almost  next  door  to  the  Typography  is  the  most 
distinctively  Russian  hotel  in  Moscow,  "  The 
Slav  Bazaar."  Much  of  the  city's  winter  gaiety 
centres  in  this  rambling  caravansary,  and  its  lofty 
salle  a  manger  is  the  rendezvous  of  bankers  and 
merchants  for  the  mid-day  meal.  The  zakuska 
buffet  is  at  one  end  under  a  great  canvas  by 
Repine.  A  fountain  makes  music  in  the  centre 
of  the  dining  hall.  Live  f.sh  splash  in  the  pool, 
unheeding  the  doom  that  awaits  them.  .  .  . 
Let  a  guest  hint  at  sudak  or  sterliad  —  a  net  is 
craftily  dipped  into  the  finny  haunts,  and  off 
to  the  cook  goes  one  of  the  colony,  floundering 
and  rebellious.  By  the  time  the  dictator  of  pis- 
catorial fortunes  has  partaken  of  zakuska  and 
soup,  the  waiter  has  returned  with  the  victim  upon 
a  silver  platter,  conquered  and  choicely  fried. 

If  you  ask  the  privilege,  you  may  see,  on  an 
upper  floor,  the  ball  and  assembly  room,  which 
is  to  Moscow  fashion  what  the  ball-rooms  of  the 
Plaza  and  the  Savoy  are  to  New  York  and  Lon- 
don. The  ceiling,  walls,  and  chairs  are  hand- 
carved  with  delicacy  and  minuteness.  The  colours 
employed  in  painting  the  wood  work  are  frank 


MOSCOW  119 

reds,  greens,  blues,  and  yellows,  completing  a 
decorative  barbarism  which  is  thoroughly  effec- 
tive. Portraits  of  Pushkine,  Gogol,  Prince  Galit- 
zine,  and  other  notabilities  circle  the  wall.  Under 
one  painting,  the  brass  name  plate  has  been  re- 
moved, because,  explains  the  head  waiter,  this  was 
an  author  "  who  had  written  bad  things  of  Rus- 
sia." 

The  eyes  of  the  Great  gaze  from  their  frames 
sadly,  reflectively  or  tenderly  upon  the  dancers 
who,  night  after  night,  perform  tlieir  vows  to 
Terpsichore  here,  under  the  winking  candelabra. 
Nor  do  they  close  after  the  electric  candles  are 
snuffed,  and  troops  of  weary  guests  descend  to 
their  karetas,  attended  by  men-servants  of  the  hos- 
telry, who  wear  peacock  feathers  about  their  caps. 

Returning  to  the  Red  Square,  the  Sunday  Gate 
is  to  the  right.  Against  its  farther  wall  and 
between  two  arches  stands  the  chapel  of  the  Iber- 
ian Virgin.  The  crowd  of  the  Faithful  often  ex- 
tends to  the  pavement  before  the  tiny  shrine. 
Dusty  pilgrims  from  far-off  provinces  lay  down 
their  ragged  bundles  and  tea-kettles,  and  enter 
to  kneel  before  the  wonder-working  picture,  which 
flames  with  gold,  pearls,  and  brilliants.  Shop 
keepers,  maids  coming  from  market,  an  officer  in 
full  accoutrement,  a  shabby  cure,  a  lady  descended 


120  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

from  her  limousine  make  the  poklon,  and  re- 
peatedly bow  to  the  floor  in  common  humility.  If 
the  Virgin  drives  away,  like  the  Bambino  of  Rome, 
in  her  own  carriage  with  bare-headed  servants, 
to  pay  a  visit  to  the  ailing,  she  leaves  a  substi- 
tute, which  does  not  deceive  her  devotees  who 
know  well  that  the  Virgin  of  Mount  Athos  bears 
the  mark  of  a  Tatar  ball  on  her  cheek.  The 
praying,  crossing,  bending  is  uninterrupted  from 
day-break  to  dark.  The  odour  of  poverty,  of  in- 
cense, and  flowers  on  the  altar  is  overcoming. 

A  young  woman,  whose  features  express  no  emo- 
tion, stands  beside  a  barbate  priest  who  exorcises 
her  sins  according  to  the  rite  prescribed  in  a 
volume  with  silver-gilt  covers.  Sometimes  he 
hurries  the  words,  as  if  impatient  of  the  formality. 
The  penitent  frequently  touches  her  forehead  and 
breast  with  thumb  and  forefingers,  gazing  im- 
mobilely  at  the  candle-lighted  shrine,  her  lips  mov- 
ing in  proper  response  to  the  prayers  of  her  con- 
fessor. Her  face  is  pale  and  fixed.  When  the 
petitions  are  all  said,  she  kneels  for  a  mumbled 
benediction,  and  turns  to  kiss  the  glass  which 
covers  the  ikon.  Her  way  to  the  door  is  impeded 
by  a  press  of  old  and  young.  At  the  exit,  she 
buys  a  cheap  reproduction  of  the  adored  picture, 
from  the  ikon-seller     He  hands  her  some  kopekj 


MOSCOW  121 

in  change  for  a  ruble ;  she  pushes  them  back  to 
him  across  the  counter.  He  wears  a  greasy  black 
robe,  is  thin  and  unshaven.  He  looks  gratefully 
after  her  as  she  takes  up  a  hand-bag  and  goes 
down  the  worn  steps.  Perhaps  she  is  leaving 
Moscow  or  has  returned  after  an  absence.  At 
any  rate,  she  has  fulfilled  the  obligation  of  every 
Orthodox  traveller  in  Moscow  by  paying  homage 
before  or  after  a  journey  at  the  Chapel  of  the 
Iberian  Virgin. 

The  Tsar  upon  arriving  in  Moscow  comes  here 
first  to  pray  before  entering  the  adjacent  Krem- 
lin by  the  Redeemer  Gate.  This  tower,  in  doubt- 
ful Gothic  taste,  made  famous  by  siege  and  fable, 
is  the  Porta  Sacra  of  the  Slavs.  A  lamp  swung 
by  heavy  chains  illumines  the  faded  painting  of 
the  "  Redeemer  of  Smolensk,"  brought  to  Mos- 
cow by  Peter  the  Great's  father.  His  command 
that  no  male  —  Jew,  Pagan  or  Christian  —  should 
pass  beneath  it  without  uncovering  is  rigidly  ob- 
served. Over  ten  thousand  persons  pause  to  wor- 
ship here  daily,  under  the  minarets  and  bartizans 
of  the  Kremlin  wall,  over-looking  the  barren 
square. 

Having  mounted  to  the  Chateau-Fortress,  we 
have  reached  the  hearthstone  of  "  the  Ancient 
Ancestor."     Here  one  senses  the  vibrating  of  the 


122  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Russian  heart.  One  is  over-powered  by  tradition 
and  walks  reverently.  "  Above  Moscow  there  is 
nothing  but  the  Kreinl,  above  the  Kreml,  nothing 
but  the  sky."  The  Kremlin  is  the  essence  of  all 
that  Russia  loves  most.  Within  its  fortifications, 
the  symbol  of  the  Khans  was  crushed  under  foot. 
Successive  Tsars  have  crossed  its  historic  plazas 
in  the  robes  of  baptism,  coronation,  marriage, 
and  burial. 

It  is  not  a  sombre  fortress  like  the  Tower  of 
London :  it  has  grace  and  light  and  the  aroma 
of  adventurous  years.  The  Imperial  Quarter 
comprises  four  or  five  squares,  two  palaces,  the 
seat  of  the  Military  Governor,  a  Museum,  a  Treas- 
ury, several  monuments,  three  cathedrals,  many 
churches  and  chapels,  three  convents,  a  barracks, 
an  arsenal  and  a  Palace  of  Justice. 

On  the  parade  is  the  Convent  of  the  Ascension, 
which  is  a  sepulchre  for  many  noblewomen.  On 
the  upper  floor  of  the  Church  of  St.  Michael  is 
the  revered  Kazan  Virgin.  Alexander  II  was 
born  in  the  adjoining  palace,  too  intimate  to  be 
visited.  Across  the  open  space  is  his  monument, 
shrined  in  a  pavilion  above  the  Moskva,  the  Tiber 
of  Moscow,  torpid  and  unlovely,  but  crossed  by 
bridses  from  which  the  silhouette  of  the  fortress 
is  beyond  words  beautiful,  rare,  and  strange. 


MOSCOW  123 

Many  royal  children  have  been  baptised  in  the 
Tschoudov  Convent  for  men,  beside  the  Little 
Palace.  It  is  the  richest  religious  estabHshment 
in  Moscow.  Opposite  it  is  the  Tsar  Cannon, 
which  can  shoot  balls  over  a  yard  in  diameter. 

In  Russia,  the  bell  towers  stand  apart  from  the 
churches  whose  services  are  announced  by  sound- 
ing the  bell  clappers  in  certain  rotation  against 
the  ringing  sides.  The  bells  of  Russia  are  a 
tradition.  Their  heavy  booming  resounds  from 
spires  which  tremble  under  the  war  of  vibrations. 
Since  1660,  the  thirty-one  great  bells  which  form 
the  chime  of  Ivan-Veliki  have  proclaimed  the 
coronations  and  weddings  celebrated  in  the  cathe- 
drals behind  it.  It  is  the  King  of  Bell  Towers 
as  the  bronze  kolokol  at  its  foot  is  the  Queen  of 
Bells.  The  view  of  Moscow  from  Great  Ivan  re- 
wards the  climb  of  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty 
steps.  On  the  second  landing  is  the  Treasury  of 
the  Patriarchs,  displaying  pastoral  crosses, 
penagias,  mitres  of  all  epochs  (among  them,  that 
of  St.  Cyril,  434  A.  D.),  sacerdotal  headgear, 
imperial  funeral  sheets,  evangels,  sacred  vases, 
and  ecclesiastical  table  services. 

An  iron  grill  gives  entrance  to  the  Cathedral 
Square,  the  sanctuary  of  the  Kremlin.  Inside  the 
high  Italian  walls  of  the  Cathedral  of  the  Arch- 


124  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

angel  Michael  repose  the  Ruriks  and  Romanovs 
who  ruled  before  Peter  the  Great,  together  with 
his  grandson,  Peter  II.  The  sarcophagi  of  Ivan 
the  Terrible,  of  Dmitri  of  the  Don,  and  of  the  last 
Rurik  are  the  most  interesting,  historically.  The 
latter  was  also  named  Dmitri,  is  called  a  martyr 
and  is  worshipped  as  such  by  the  Church. 

Nine  domes  embellish  the  square,  elance  Cathe- 
dral of  the  Annunciation.  Under  its  arched 
fa9ades  have  passed  all  the  imperial  grooms  and 
brides  since  the  Dmitris  and  Ivans.  Napoleon's 
horses  were  stabled  here  before  the  burning  of 
Moscow.  The  frescoes  of  martyrs,  apostles, 
patriarchs  and  prophets  are  dulled  and,  sometimes, 
grotesque.  The  little  church  has  the  faded  ap- 
peal of  a  flower  among  musty  leaves.  It  exhales 
memories  of  the  Maries,  Natalias,  Marfas  and 
Alexandras  who  have  spoken  their  vows  here  under 
swinging  altar  lamps,  some  of  them  new  converts 
to  the  Church,  others,  reluctant  Brides  of  the 
Empire,  all  wearing  the  kokochnik,  or  pearl  dia- 
dem, and  the  sarafane  of  state. 

A  military  mass  in  the  Uspensky  Sobor  (Cathe- 
dral of  the  Assumption),  where  the  Tsars  are 
crowned,  is  a  spectacle,  superb,  unforgettable. 
Painted  saints  encircle  the  pillars,  the  walls  glow 
with  colour,  the  chapels  are  hazy  with  smoke  of 


MOSCOW  125 

many  tapers.  A  mysterious  half-day  broods,  ex- 
cept where  an  oblique  bar  of  sunlight  falls  from 
a  high  window.  But  a  brilliant  is  whitest  when 
held  in  shadow,  and  the  splendour  of  the  choir, 
the  heavy  silver  tombs,  the  tremulous  gems  of 
the  Vladimir  Virgin,  gain  beauty  in  the  gloom. 

It  is  the  birthday  of  the  Tsaritsa.  In  the  main 
aisle  of  the  little  cathedral  are  officials  of  the 
army,  province,  and  municipality,  brilliantly  uni- 
formed. Since  eight  o'clock,  common-folk  have 
stood  outside  awaiting  admittance.  Now  they  are 
crowded  against  the  walls  and  down  the  side 
aisles,  a  throng  more  curious  than  worshipful. 
The  Mass,  which  lasts  from  nine  o'clock  until  noon, 
is  at  its  height.  The  High  Priest  in  cloth  of  gold, 
wearing  a  mitre  set  with  emeralds  and  bearing 
a  jewelled  cross,  moves  down  the  steps  from  the 
chancel  to  the  central  nave  in  the  wake  of  the 
Archbishop  and  the  Metropolitan  of  Moscow, 
whose  chasubles  are  heavily  embroidered  in  seed 
pearls ;  their  mitres  have,  on  each  of  the  rounded 
sides,  great  single  stones  which  glisten  like  eyes. 

The  high  dignitaries  mount  a  platform  and  face 
the  altar.  Below  them  stand  lesser  priests  in 
pale-coloured  brocades,  and  kamilaukhioni  of  black 
or  purple.  Still  others  are  dressed  in  more  se- 
vere cassocks  and  are  bare-headed.    One  of  the  lat- 


126  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

ter  begins  to  intone  in  a  voice  of  a  timbre  to  dis- 
tract with  envy  an  operatic  basso-profundo.  He 
ascends  the  scale  in  semi-tones,  dwelling  on  each 
to  repeat  a  sonorous  phrase.  His  great  chest 
expands,  his  head,  covered  by  long,  waving  black 
hair,  is  raised,  the  volume  of  the  noble  voice 
increases.  He  sings  unaccompanied  by  an  in- 
strument and  quite  alone.  His  heroic  organ  rolls 
forth  in  the  dramatic  accents  of  the  Old  Slavonic. 
The  effect  is  tremendous.  Up  and  up  he  mounts 
to  the  higher  registers.  At  last,  with  chin  lifted 
and  eyes  on  the  glimmering  ikonastas,  he  reit- 
erates the  final  ringing  sentence. 

The  choir  of  men  and  boys  renew  the  chant ; 
their  flawless  voices  range  from  swelling  crescendo 
to  suppressed  pianissimo.  Their  tones  declaim 
and  glorify.  One  of  the  little  chaps  in  scarlet 
surplice  sings  an  obligato  to  the  three-part 
chorus ;  against  the  tonal  background  floats  his 
high  bird-note.  The  singing  ends.  .  .  The 
Archbishop  and  the  Metropolitan  stand  in  im- 
movable repose.  Sub-priests  draw  near  to  re- 
move the  golden  mitres.  Another  takes  his  place 
before  them  and  holds  a  volume  spread  open  upon 
his  chest,  a  living  lectern.  First  one  reads  from 
the  book,  then  the  other.  Their  speaking  voices 
have  the  basso  quality  of  the  Black  Priest  who  in- 


MOSCOW  127 

toned.  The  mitres  arc  replaced,  the  cortege 
forms  again,  and  returns  to  the  altar.  Tlie  Met- 
ropolitan, the  Archbishop  and  the  High  Priest 
go  through  the  Royal  Doors  to  the  Sanctuary. 
The  deacons,  popes  and  priests  retire  by  the  doors 
at  either  side.  The  choir  chants  again 
"  God  have  pity  !  "  they  beseech.  At  last  —  the 
benediction,  while  the  assemblage  bows  and 
crosses  as  one  man.  The  High  Priest  returns. 
He  has  put  off  his  festival  robes  and  the  tunic 
of  white  China  crepe  for  the  vestments  of  every- 
day service,  which  are  made  of  red,  blue,  and 
silver,  and  veil  under-robes  of  silk.  In  place  of 
the  mitre,  he  wears  a  tall  coiffure,  draped  in 
black.  In  the  aisle  the  pastor  receives  the 
homage  of  his  congregation.  He  makes  the 
cross-sign  above  each  head  as  it  bends  over  his 
hand.  His  lips  move  constantly  in  blessing.  Oc- 
casionally he  stoops  to  hear  the  request  of  a 
Mother  in  Israel,  or  to  accept  the  kiss  of  a  wee 
child,  reaching  from  its  sister's  arms.  His  face 
is  wearied,  but  his  white  fingers  unceasingly  sign 
the  cross,  first  to  the  forehead  and  then  to  the 
breast.  His  lips  are  never  still.  .  .  .  The 
last  votary  makes  his  obeisance.  Two  deacons 
lift  the  shimmering  garment  from  the  thin  shoul- 
ders of  their  superior.     A  footman  enters  from 


128  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

the  waiting  coupe  with  the  black  street  robes  of 
the  head  of  the  Cathedral.  The  High  Priest  puts 
them  on,  and  takes  up  his  long  staff  of  office. 
He  strides  with  a  certain  majesty  to  the  doors, 
enters  the  carriage,  and  pulls  down  the  silk  win- 
dow curtain.  The  coal  black  horses  move  through 
an  alley  of  still  lingering  devotees.  In  leaving 
the  little  square,  they  pass  near  the  Red  Stair- 
case of  Russian  history,  by  which  the  Tsars 
descend  from  the  "  Sacred  Vestibule "  to  be 
anointed  with  holy  oil. 

Gratuitous  permits  to  enter  the  Grand  Palace  of 
past  and  present  rulers  are  granted  at  the  office 
of  the  Kremlin  Police  Chief,  back  of  the  Palace. 
A  guide  conducts  groups  of  sight-seers  at  inter- 
vals. 

The  golden  Hall  of  St.  George  is  reached  by  a 
granite  stairway.  It  is  one  of  the  largest  and 
most  beautiful  of  all  kingly  apartments.  To 
Anglo-Saxons  the  statement  may  be  surprising 
that  the  Russians  were  the  first  to  show  the  sym- 
bol of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon  on  a  coat-of- 
arms.  "  St.  George  the  Triumphant  "  appeared 
first  upon  the  arms  of  Moscow  and  was  later,  in 
1472,  incorporated  with  the  two-headed  eagle  and 
the  cross  by  Grand  Duke  Ivan  III,  as  the  arms 
of  all  Russia.     The  most  treasured  decoration  for 


VLADIMIK,    METROPOLITAN     OF    MOSCOW 


MOSCOW  129 

military  heroism  is  named  The  Medal  of  St. 
George.  It  is  given  to  the  most  courageous, 
whether  he  be  private  or  general. 

There  are  many  other  stately  salons  in  the  great 
Residence.  From  a  window  near  the  Throne 
Room,  one  can  see  in  the  court  the  first  of  the 
five  hundred  Moscow  churches,  the  "  Saviour  in 
the  Forest."  This  part  of  the  Kremlin  was  once 
heavily  Avoodcd.  A  large  portion  of  the  Palace 
was  burned  in  1812.  The  rooms  are  shown  where 
Napoleon  lived  during  his  occupancy  of  Moscow. 

The  Granovitaia  Palata,  in  a  corner  of  the 
Palace,  receives  the  Emperor  returning  from  the 
coronation  to  the  Princes'  Banquet.  At  the  feast 
the  shelves  of  a  central  pillar  are  filled  with  gold 
plate.  Frescoes  from  Old  Testament  scenes  are 
on  the  walls.  The  floor  covering  is  a  remarkable 
carpet,  a  mosaic  in  cloth  of  applied  colours. 
Above  is  a  balcony  from  which  the  Tsaritsa  and 
her  ladies  look  down  on  the  ceremony  in  the  old- 
world  room. 

In  a  wing  of  the  Palace  are  the  fascinating  apart- 
ments of  the  Terem,  where  the  mothers  of  future 
Emperors  used  to  live  in  the  intimacy  of  family 
life.  The  rooms,  small,  low,  with  sloping  ceilings, 
decorated  in  the  early  seventeenth  century  manner 
of   the   Russians,    are    furnished   throughout   the 


130  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

five  retreating  stories  with  carved  and  gilded 
beds,  tables,  mirrors,  chests,  and  chairs  of 
the  period.  The  balconies  outside  the  windows 
of  the  upper  floors  sweep  the  river  and  the 
town. 

The  stairway  of  the  Terem  overlooks  the  Church 
of  the  Saviour  Behind  the  Grill  of  Gold,  the  private 
sanctuary  of  the  Tsars.  It  is  topped  by  twelve 
clustered  columns  terminating  in  gilt  spires,  an 
effect  more  odd  than  artistic. 

A  long  wing  of  the  Grand  Palace  contains  the 
Armory  and  the  Treasury.  The  former  presents 
an  exhibition  of  Russian,  Polish,  Circassian,  Ger- 
man, and  English  arms.  The  Treasury  is  the 
chronicle  in  precious  gems  and  metals  of  the  Em- 
pire's story.  Diadems,  thrones,  state  robes, 
chariots,  orbs,  embroideries,  royal  costumes  and 
imperial  gifts  recall  gorgeous  spectacles  inter- 
woven with  the  nation's  existence.  Thc}^  are  on 
view  from  ten  o'clock  until  twelve,  three  times  a 
week. 

The  Synod,  enclosing  the  Church  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles,  abuts  the  Kremlin  barracks.  In  the 
House  of  the  Patriarchs,  the  Holy  Chrysm  is  dis- 
tilled in  silver  vessels  for  the  anointing  of  the 
Church.  As  the  sacred  blend  of  oil  and  spices 
filters   into  the  consecrated  basins,  each  drop  is 


MOSCOW  131 

blessed  by  the  attendant  bishops.     The  ceremony 
takes  place  once  in  two  years. 

Of  the  five  exits  from  the  Kremlin  triangle,  the 
Trinity  Gate  leads  directly  into  the  much  fre- 
quented Alexander  Garden,  which  falls  in  terraces 
planted  with  lime-trees  to  the  street  called  Mok- 
hovaia.  The  Nicholas  Gate  is  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  Senate  Place.  Crossing  to  it,  one  passes 
the  bronze  memorial  which  has  been  raised  on  the 
spot  where  Grand  Duke  Sergius,  Governor  of 
Moscow,  was  killed  as  he  was  driving  from  his 
palace  to  the  Red  Square.  Since  the  Grand 
Duke's  death  his  widow.  Grand  Duchess  Elizabeth, 
elder  sister  of  the  Empress,  has  founded  an  order 
of  deaconesses  called  the  Society  of  Mary  and 
Martha  (Marthino-Mariinskai'a  Obschina)  at 
Ordinka,  in  that  part  of  Moscow  which  lies  across 
the  river  from  the  Kremlin.  She  herself  wears 
the  white  robes  of  the  order,  and  directs  the  min- 
istrations of  the  sisters  among  the  sick  and  poor 
of  Moscow. 

Making  the  tour  of  the  Kremlin  wall,  the  Re- 
deemer Gate  is  the  next  beyond  the  Nicholas 
Gate.  Facing  the  river  is  the  Gate  of  the  Secret 
Tower,  for  pedestrians  only.  At  the  further  cor- 
ner, near  the  Armory  Museum,  stands  the  Boro- 
vitsky  Gate  through  which  Napoleon  entered  and, 


132  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

later,  fled.  This  is  of  Tatar  design,  having  four 
square  stories  narrowing  toward  the  pinnacle, 
with  an  octagonal  spire.  On  the  cream-tinted 
walls  of  the  fortress  are  twenty-one  towers,  round, 
angular,  ornate,  and  plain.  With  a  background 
of  blue,  green  and  red  roofs,  and  gold  and  silver 
spires  of  the  churches  and  convents  within  the 
battlements,  they  complete  a  magical  picture. 

The  first  Romanov  was  born  in  the  house  of 
this  name  in  the  Varvarka,  a  street  not  far  from 
the  Church  of  St.  Basil.  Those  who  inspect  it 
will  carry  away  a  very  adequate  idea  of  how  the 
boyars,  or  noblemen,  lived  at  that  period,  about 
the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  rooms  have 
been  restored  to  their  original  semblance,  and  con- 
tain many  relics  of  old  Russia,  an  epoch  ex- 
pressed in  paintings  by  Makovsky,  Perov,  and 
Lebedev.  A  servant-guide  is  on  the  premises  three 
times  a  week. 

The  Riding  Academy  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Kremlin  below  the  Alexander  Garden,  is  the  largest 
structure  built  without  pillars.  For  many  years 
it  has  been  to  Moscow  the  Olympia  or  the  Madi- 
son Square  Garden  of  the  city.  Frequent  cavalry 
manoeuvres  take  place  here.  Across  the  Makho- 
vaia  are  the  more  modern  buildings  of  the  first  uni- 
versity to  be  built  in  Russia  proper.     The  first 


MOSCOW  133 

buildings,  to  the  north,  were  erected  about  17G0 
in  the  reign  of  Empress  Elizabeth.  About  nine 
thousand  students  attend  the  various  schools  of 
this  institution,  which,  with  that  of  St.  Petersburg, 
is  the  most  important  in  the  Empire. 

The  Roumiantsov  Museum  is  an  impressive  build- 
ing which  commands  a  rise  of  ground  beyond  the 
University.  Its  collections  were  left  by  a  pa- 
triotic Count  to  the  State,  and  include  a  series  of 
two  hundred  figures  dressed  in  costumes  of  nearly 
every  district  of  Russia.  There  is  also  a  library 
of  seven  hundred  thousand  volumes,  and  some  good 
pictures,  Flemish  and  modern,  including  fine  Rus- 
sian canvases. 

Artists  and  architects  avow  that,  technically,  the 
most  beautiful  church  in  Russia  is  that  of  the 
Saviour,  which  is  Moscow's  thank  offering  for  de- 
livery from  the  French.  It  stands  quite  apart  in 
a  green  square,  and,  though  not  on  a  height,  is 
so  placed  that  its  white  and  gold  majesty  seems 
enthroned.  It  was  completed  in  1883  at  an  ex- 
pense of  Rs. 14,000,000.  The  friezes  on  the  outer 
walls,  the  twelve  bronze  doors  and  the  massive 
steps  prepare  one  in  part  for  the  splendour  in- 
side. But  it  would  be  difficult  to  conceive,  before 
entering,  what  exquisite  effects  had  been  obtained 
by  contrasting  white,  red,  and  grey  marbles  with 


134  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

gold,  and  gilded  bronze.  The  four  arms  of  the 
Greek  cross  and  the  dome  are  decorated  by  paint- 
ings by  some  of  the  greatest  Russian  artists. 
The  rounding  of  the  angles,  as  in  Byzantine 
churches  at  Constantinople,  adds  to  the  immensity 
of  the  auditorium.  As  in  all  Orthodox  churches, 
there  are  no  seats  and  no  organ.  The  congrega- 
tion stands,  the  lowly  with  the  proud,  throughout 
the  service.  Most  of  the  ikoni  are  without  metal 
coverings,  and  the  entire  impression  is  less  Rus- 
sian than  Italian.  The  corridor  which  circles 
the  sanctuary  behind  the  white  ikonastas,  is  lined 
by  nearly  two  hundred  marble  tablets  recording 
the  names  of  battles  in  the  war  with  Napoleon, 
together  with  those  of  officers  and  men  who  fell. 
At  the  door  of  the  consecrated  chamber  behind 
the  altar,  the  guide  gently  indicates  the  rule  of 
Holy  Church  that  no  woman's  foot  shall  cross  the 
threshold.  The  men  of  the  party  step  consciously 
in  and  examine  the  treasures,  while  their  wives 
and  companions,  classed  in  the  dogma  as  "  un- 
clean," wait  outside  in  the  corridor. 

This  apparent  disparagement  of  the  sex  does  not 
extend  in  Russia  beyond  the  Church,  and,  indeed, 
a  pope  cannot  hold  a  cure  until  he  marries,  and 
must  either  enter  a  monastery  or  leave  the  min- 
istry if  his  wife  dies.     Only  the  Black  Priests  are 


MOSCOW  135 

celibates.  Woman  in  Russia  is  more  emancipated 
than  most  of  her  sisters  abroad.  Many  practise 
medicine,  dentistry,  civil  engineering,  and  the  law, 
and  in  all  walks  but  the  lowest,  women  are  con- 
sidered on  a  plane  with  men. 

The  Convent  of  the  Virgins  (Novo  Dievichy) 
where  many  women  of  the  imperial  family  have 
taken  the  veil,  repays  a  rather  fatiguing  trip,  to 
the  southwest  of  the  city.  The  quiet  sojourn  is 
refreshing  among  churches  and  chapels  shut  in  by 
white  walls,  dentellated  and  broken  by  arches  and 
gateways.  Towers  and  spires  surround  the  shady 
cemetery  which  is  the  Field  of  Repose  for  many 
noble  ladies.  Nuns  walk  down  the  paths  in  short 
black  skirts  quaintly  cut,  with  pointed  basques  and 
high  head-dresses  of  black  velvet.  This  retreat 
was  established  by  Vassily,  son  of  Ivan  III,  in 
1524.  The  Donskoi,  the  Siminov  and  other  con- 
vents are  patterned  after  it.  Peter  the  Great 
relegated  his  sister  Sophia  to  this  refuge,  and, 
opposite  her  cell,  hung  three  hundred  of  the 
Streltsi  in  her  presence  and  his.  The  Streltsi 
were  a  regiment  of  noblemen  who  revolted  against 
his  reforms  and  paid  the  penalty  with  their  lives. 
Sophia  had  also  opposed  her  brother,  and  was  con- 
sequently disciplined. 

On   the   opposite   side   of  the   city   is   the  "  An- 


136  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

cestor  of  Russian  Convents,"  paradoxically  called, 
"  The  New  Convent  of  the  Saviour."  It  had  its 
beginning  in  the  Kremlin  in  1328,  and  has  been 
on  the  bank  of  the  Moskva  since  1462.  During 
the  French  occupation  its  churches  were  used  as 
barracks  and  stalls. 

A  half  hour's  walk  beyond  the  Convent  of  the 
Virgins  will  bring  the  pedestrian  to  the  Sparrow 
Hills,  from  which  Napoleon  looked  upon  burning 
Moscow.  A  drosky  drive  from  the  Red  Square 
will  cost  about  three  rubles  for  the  round  fare. 
On  the  crest  is  a  restaurant  where  one  can  have 
rather  expensive  tea.  The  view  par  excellence  is 
at  sunset  when  the  Gilded  Phantasy  called  Mos- 
cow is  most  resplendent.  The  river  twists  in  three 
great  U's.  The  Hills  directly  overlook  the  cen- 
tral one.  The  city,  several  miles  distant,  appears 
like  a  mirage  in  the  desert,  a  fabrication  of  the 
brain,  as  seemingly  unreal  as  Bagdad  or  Ispahan. 

Superlatives  must  once  more  be  employed  to 
describe  the  mammoth  hospice  known  as  the  Found- 
ling Asylum.  The  one  in  St.  Petersburg  is  enor- 
mous, but  these  unending  white  buildings  lying 
along  the  river  bank  exceed  in  size  and  scope  any 
similar  institution.  Down  miles  of  corridors  the 
nurses  hurry  to  their  charges  whose  voices,  lifted 
in  protest  against  life,  carry  to  the  approaching 


SFAASKl    GATE    KKKMLIX,    MOSCOW  ;    THK    MOST    HOLY 
GATE   OF    THE   KREMLIN 


MOSCOW  137 

visitor.  In  successive  great  rooms,  as  big  and 
bare  as  barracks,  are  regiments  of  cribs,  and  the 
poor  little  warriors  who  must  fight  their  fight 
against  unfair  odds.  The  nurses,  many  of  them 
young  mothers,  wear  tiaras  of  blue  lawn  and  bright 
red  dresses  laced  over  white  bodices,  with  black 
slippers  and  white  stockings.  Nine  hundred  of 
these  women  care  for  five  thousand  babies  a  year, 
about  fifteen  hundred  infants  being  in  the  Asylum 
at  one  time.  When  a  foundling  is  a  few  weeks 
old,  if  it  is  a  well  baby  it  is  taken  to  the  country 
by  a  foster-mother,  who  is  paid  by  the  Govern- 
ment for  its  up-bringing.  The  children  who  have 
survived  the  appalling  conditions  which  result  in 
the  death  of  over  one-fourth  of  the  babies  of  Rus- 
sia from  birth  to  five  years  of  age,  are  returned 
to  the  Orphanage  for  a  practical  education  in 
the  schools,  which  have  thirty-six  divisions.  Some 
of  the  girls  graduate  to  the  Imperial  Ballet,  others 
go  out  as  teachers,  and  the  boys  become  artisans 
as  a  rule,  thanks  to  the  excellent  manual  training 
the  schools  afford.  The  Government  playing 
card  monopoly  and  pawn-shop  revenues  produce 
an  income  of  Rs. 1,200,000  yearly  for  the  care  and 
teaching  of  the  waifs. 

In   the   old   quarter   of   the   Tatars   beyond   the 
river,  in  a  building  of  unusual  design,  is  the  most 


138  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

representative  gallery  of  the  Russian  School  of 
Art.  The  collection  of  over  two  thousand  works  is 
the  legacy  of  Paul  and  Sergius  Tretiakov,  who  be- 
longed to  a  family  of  linen  merchants.  Aside  from 
a  few  paintings  by  French  artists,  the  works  are 
all  by  Russians,  and  most  of  the  subjects  relate  to 
Russia.  The  porters  at  the  large  hotels  have  an 
English  catalogue  for  sale,  which  is  a  worthy  but 
very  faulty  effort  at  translation.  In  the  entrance 
hall  of  the  gallery,  French  catalogues  and  photo- 
graphs of  the  choicest  paintings  are  sold. 

If  arranged  with  that  end  in  view,  the  various 
scenes  exposed  in  these  well-lighted  salons  would 
tell  a  chronological  story  of  boyar  and  peasant 
from  birth  to  death,  besides  chronicling  some  of  the 
most  notable  religious  and  national  incidents  in 
the  country's  history.  Here  are  records  of  home, 
village,  field  and  church  painted  in  the  intense, 
direct  manner  of  the  Russian  School.  Even  the 
titles  suggest  the  daily  occupations,  the  simple 
dramas,  and  the  tragedies  of  these  essentially 
primitive  people.  As  witness :  Sokolov's  "  Birth 
in  the  Field" ;  Makovsky's  "  Boys  Playing  Bones," 
"  Business  Interview,"  "  Family  Trial  in  the  Po- 
lice Court,"  "  Blind  Beggars,"  "  In  the  Doctor's 
Waiting-room " ;  Perov's  stoical  "  Drowned 
Woman  " ;    Trontovsky's    "  Khorovod  —  a    Rus- 


MOSCOW  139 

sian  Dance" ;  "  An  Atelier  of  Ikon  Painters,"  by 
Madame  Polenova ;  "  The  Purchased  One,"  "  Peas- 
ant Girl  from  Tver  Province,"  "  A  Local  Govern- 
ment Meeting  at  Dinner  Time,"  "  A  Woman  of 
Little  Russia  " ;  Bogatov's  "  Interior  of  a  Farm 
Yard " ;  "  Return  from  a  Village  Fair,"  by 
Korusuchine ;  "  Church  Parade  in  the  Province  of 
Kursk  "  by  Repine ;  Piranischnikov's  "  Preparing 
Ground  for  Flax  Sowing  in  Vologda  Province  " ; 
Maximov's  "Sorceress  at  a  Peasant  Wedding" 
and  "  A  Sick  Husband" ;  Kasatkine's  forceful 
"Who?";  Orlov's  "The  Dying"  and  "Paying 
Taxes  " ;  Feodotor's  "  At  the  Shop  " ;  "  Haymak- 
ers' Dinner,"  by  Morosov;  Lebedev's  "  Boyar 
Wedding,"  a  masterpiece  of  colour  and  por- 
traiture ;  Vereschagin's  "  Camp  of  the  Khirghiz  " 
and  "  The  Burlaks  " ;  Bogdanov's  cynical  "  Re- 
turn from  Burial  " ;  Yarochenko's  "  Prisoners 
Feeding  Pigeons  from  the  Window  of  a  Train." 

When  one  has  made  the  round  of  such  pictures  as 
these,  he  has  read  the  realistic  story  of  the  Rus- 
sian townsman  and  farmer.  Vassiliev,  Shishkine 
and  Levitan  interpret  the  birches,  the  snows,  the 
melting  springs,  the  marshy  plains,  the  pine  for- 
ests, the  hayfields,  the  streams,  the  twilights  of 
their  country.  Polenov  has  specialised  on  sketches 
of  Church  and  Palace,  and  has  done  a  vast  number 


140  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

of  Palestine  studies.  Vereschagin  has  painted 
the  wretchedness  and  magnificence  of  Eastern  Rus- 
sia, of  India,  China,  Thibet,  Afghanistan  and 
Turkey.  The  fact  that  he  sank  with  a  Russian 
battle-ship  while  making  studies  of  the  Russo- 
Japanese  war,  adds  to  the  tragic  interest  of  his 
work. 

Nearly  a  whole  room  is  given  to  the  strange 
oriental  heads  of  Ivanov,  and  another  to  Borisov's 
frosty  scenes  of  the  far  north  of  Russia.  Ge's 
versatility  ranges  from  the  portrayal  of  Bible  and 
historical  incidents  to  landscapes  and  portraiture. 
But  Elias  Repine,  in  point  of  versatility,  power, 
and  technique  is  the  greatest  of  them  all.  There 
is  a  copy  in  this  Gallery  of  the  Cossacks  writing 
to  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  the  original  of  which  is 
in  the  Alexander  III  Museum,  Petersburg,  and  a 
companion  picture  equally  ribald  and  brutish. 
His  terrifying  exposition  of  the  remorse  of  Ivan 
the  Terrible  over  the  body  of  the  son  he  had 
murdered  horrifies  and  fascinates.  His  "  Return 
of  the  Exile "  is  absorbingly  human.  In  por- 
traiture, he  ranks  with  his  countryman,  Kram- 
skoi*  and  the  best  of  other  nations. 

Like  the  genre  painters,  the  portraitists  of  this 
Gallery  have  been  peculiarly  loyal  to  their  own. 
Their   work   constitutes   an   assemblage   of  Rus- 


MOSCOW  141 

sians  who  have  achieved  the  most  honourable 
places  in  law,  philosophy,  medicine,  chemistry, 
literature,  music,  art,  criticism,  architecture,  lan- 
guage and  the  drama.  Among  many  others, 
Kramskoi  painted  the  poet  Nekrassov,  the  artists 
Shishkine  and  Makovsky,  the  sculptors  Antokolsky 
and  Baron  Klodt,  the  writers  Melinkov  and 
Griboyedov,  the  founder  Paul  Tretiakov,  and  him- 
self. Repine  had  among  his  distinguished  sit- 
ters the  historian  Sabeline,  the  painters  Surikov 
and  Ge,  the  composers  Moussorgsky,  Rubinstein 
and  Glinka,  the  surgeon  Pirogov,  and  Tolstoi  and 
the  poet  Schevchenko,  who  also  sat  to  Kramskoi. 
Others  have  painted  Pushkine  and  Lermontov, 
Krylov,  Nicholas  Rubinstein,  Dostoievsky  and 
Turgenev,  who  with  Gogol  and  Tolstoi  are  the 
greatest  Russian  novelists,  the  composer  Rimsky- 
Korsakov,  the  artists  Vasnetzov  and  Repine,  and 
many  of  the  Tsars. 

There  are  two  forcible  canvases  of  which  women 
are  the  central  figures.  One  by  Repine  represents 
Sophia,  sister  of  Peter,  on  the  morning  of  the 
torturing  of  her  servants  and  the  hanging  of  the 
Streltsi.  The  other  shows  the  defiant  face  of  the 
noble  Morosova  on  her  way  to  trial  at  the  Kremlin 
court  on  a  charge  of  treason  for  renouncing  the 
Orthodox  Church  for  that  of  the  Old  Believers. 


142  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

The  mob  about  her  sledge  jeers,  pities,  threatens 
and  prays  for  her,  as  she  half  rises  from  her 
huddled  pose  and  screams  back  at  them  in  des- 
peration and  contempt.  After  trial,  she  was  de- 
ported to  Siberia. 

The  most  conspicuous  eccelesiastical  painter  of 
modern  Russia  is  Victor  Vasnetzov.  His  most 
cherished  works  are  the  wall  paintings  made  for 
the  Cathedral  of  St.  Valdimir,  Kiev.  In  his  home, 
13,  Troitskaia  Ulitza,  Moscow,  is  the  original  of 
his  beloved  Madonna  and  Child.  It  hangs  in  the 
living-room  in  a  remarkable  dwelling  built  of  logs, 
a  glorified  izba.  Not  far  away,  is  the  palace  of 
the  Metropolitan  of  Moscow. 

In  a  salon  of  the  Gallery  given  almost  entirely 
to  Vasnetzov,  are  copies  and  originals  of  mural 
paintings  now  at  Kiev,  among  them  "  The  Bap- 
tism of  Russia  "  and  the  "  Christ  in  the  Dome." 
His  immense  canvas,  "  At  the  Threshold  of  Para- 
dise," is  above  the  stairway  in  the  upper  central 
hall.  "After  the  Battle  of  Igor  with  the  Polo- 
vetsky "  is  a  powerful  representation  of  three 
warriors  on  horseback.  Vasnetzov  works  in  the 
Byzantine  manner,  with  broad  decorative  effects 
and  bright  colouring.  He  is  one  of  the  most  en- 
gaging artists  of  his  day.  Many  of  his  pictures 
of  Christ,  of  the  Virgin,  and  of  the  Saints  are 


MOSCOW  143 

copied  by  ikon  painters,  so  that  his  figures  are 
known  far  outside  the  realm  of  Kiev  and  Moscow. 

Baron  IGodt's  horses,  Antokolsky's  marbles, 
Troubetzkoy's  Bust  of  Count  Tolstoi,  and  Bek- 
lemichev's  "  Peasant  Lovers  "  are  especially  to  be 
remarked  among  the  sculptures.  The  Tretiakov 
Gallery  is  the  most  humanly  interesting,  the  most 
appealing,  the  most  characteristic  of  all  art  col- 
lections. It  is  an  authentic  register  of  life  in 
the  most  engrossing  of  countries. 

The  studio  of  Jepanechinkov  on  the  Mechan- 
skai'a,  Moscow,  is  the  most  important  in  Russia 
devoted  exclusively  to  the  production  of  ikoni  and 
church  decoration.  It  has  the  patronage  of  Rus- 
sian and  Montenegran  royalty.  The  artists  and 
workmen  in  the  employ  of  Nicolai  Jepanechinkov 
execute  commissions  for  the  embellishment  of  entire 
church  buildings  from  frescoes  to  ikonastas,  and 
from  carved  pillars  to  the  hand-worked  back- 
grounds for  life-sized  ikoni  which  have  no  metal 
coverings  over  the  face  and  hands.  Besides  mak- 
ing original  designs,  the  artists  copy,  most  skil- 
fully, the  paintings  of  Russians,  French  and  Ital- 
ians. Many  of  them  receive  but  a  few  rubles  a  day 
though  qualified  to  rank  with  eminent  ecclesiasti- 
cal painters 

Outside   of   Moscow,   there    are    several   villages 


144  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

whose  inhabitants  occupy  themselves  solely  with 
ikon  painting.  The  villages  of  Holou  and  Kholoni 
in  Vladimir  Government  are  the  largest  of  these. 
In  most  every  cottage,  there  are  workers  putting 
in  the  familiar  features  of  the  saints  with  a  facil- 
ity inherited  from  generations  of  ancestors. 
When  they  have  been  retouched  and  varnished, 
they  are  usually,  but  not  always,  mounted  in  metals 
of  varying  cost,  to  satisfy  the  wish  of  the  future 
owner  to  express  devotion  in  material  form. 

Few  go  to  Russia  without  taking  away  an  en- 
amelled souvenir.  But  still  fewer  know  that  the 
father  of  the  present  enamel  industry  was  an 
American,  Henry  Hiller,  known  throughout  the 
world  of  Russian  enamel  workers  as  Andrei 
Andreivich.  Mr.  Hiller  was  the  second  American 
to  go  to  Siberia,  the  first  being  Perry  Collins, 
then  United  States  Consul  on  the  Amur.  For 
fifty  years,  Mr.  Hiller  has  been  associated  with 
the  commerce  of  Siberian  stones,  Russian  bronzes, 
and  enamel-ware.  As  the  representative  of  the 
best-known  jewellery  house  in  America,  if  not  in  the 
world,  he  became  interested  in  the  unskilled  efforts 
of  the  enamel  workers,  and,  by  practical  encour- 
agement, so  fostered  and  advanced  the  trade  that 
it  has  become  an  art  and  a  lucrative  industry. 

It  would  be  impossible  for  one  who  had  not  fol- 


MOSCOW  145 

lowed  the  process  with  his  own  eyes  to  conceive 
how  the  enamel-ware  is  wrought.  The  most  pro- 
ficient artisans  form  artels,  or  co-operative  bands, 
each  sharing  in  the  profits  according  to  the  ini- 
tial amount  he  has  invested.  They  establish  a 
work-shop,  often  in  the  basement  of  a  house,  in 
the  upper  rooms  of  which  are  the  living  rooms  of 
themselves  and  their  families.  The  silver,  which 
forms  the  base  of  fine  spoons,  tea-pots,  trays, 
bowls,  caskets,  cigarette  cases  and  trinkets,  is 
often  hammered  into  shape  by  hand,  though  the 
more  advanced  shops  have  machinery  for  spinning 
the  smaller  pieces.  The  patterns,  which  have  been 
drawn  on  the  shaped  metal,  are  outlined  in  thin, 
twisted  silver  wire,  which  is  applied  with  glue 
by  the  delicate  fingers  of  the  workers.  Later  the 
design  is  permanently  set  with  hard  solder.  En- 
amels, which  are  a  superior  quality  of  glass,  cost- 
ing six  to  ten  rubles  a  pound,  are  dissolved  and 
washed  with  distilled  water  until  not  an  infinites- 
imal speck  of  dirt  remains.  The  coloured  enamels 
are  applied  to  the  interstices  of  the  scroll-like 
design  with  wisps  of  camels'  hair,  and  when  the 
whole  presents  a  daintily  tinted  pattern  outlined  by 
the  slender  barriers  of  silver  wire,  the  article  is 
placed  with  its  fellows  upon  trays,  and  baked 
in  white-hot  ovens.     Then  the  heat  stains  are  re- 


146  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

moved  chemically.  After  the  gilding  bath  and  the 
charcoal  polishing,  these  delicate  fruits  of  patient 
labour  are  packed  for  display  in  the  show  windows 
of  Europe  and  America.  A  dozen  tea-cups  and 
saucers,  enamelled  on  silver,  and  of  masterly 
workmanship  and  colouring,  sells  in  the  United 
States  for  Rs.2000,  and  a  most  elaborate  tea  set 
of  five  pieces,  for  Rs.l400.  The  same  workmen 
who,  in  America,  would  receive  ten  rubles  a  day, 
have  not  more  than  two  in  Russia. 

Associated  with  enamelling  is  the  lacquer-ware, 
which  is  often  confounded  with  enamel.  It  is  a 
Moscow  specialty.  The  principal  factory  making 
this  novel  papier  mache  is  Loukoutine's  in  the 
Tverska'ia,  or  Tver  Street.  The  Museum  of 
Peasant  Handwork  at  No.  7,  Leontievsky  Side- 
street,  or  Pereulok,  presents  a  moderately  priced 
display  of  embroideries,  carving,  toys,  et  cetera, 
made  by  the  kustari,  or  home-workers.  Among 
the  great  industries  for  which  Moscow  is  renowned, 
is  the  Giraud  Silk  Mill,  where  four  thousand  work- 
men produce  about  nine  million  yards  of  silk  a 
year. 

The  Sunday  "Thieves'  Market"  held  in  the 
Square  before  the  Sukharev  Tower  is  a  melee  of 
new  and  old  merchandise,  among  which  the  diligent 
searcher  may  discover  odds  and  ends  of  antiquities. 


MOSCOW  147 

and  whore  the  tourist  may  pass  an  amusing  hour 
among  the  booths  which  sell  samovars,  dried  fruits, 
old  books  and  music,  prints,  bronzes,  and  ikons. 
The  new  statue  of  Gogol  overlooks  a  peasant  mar- 
ket where  shaggy  farm  horses  stand  in  patient 
rows  among  carts  heaped  high  with  cucum'berS, 
and  stalls  crowded  with  country  produce. 

As  in  St.  Petersburg,  the  best  theatres  are  closed 
in  Summer,  but  the  tourist  who  goes  to  Moscow 
in  Winter,  when  it  is  all  blue,  and  white,  and  gold, 
and,  in  many  ways  at  its  best,  will  see  superior 
performances  of  theatre  and  opera  in  the  better 
houses.  In  both  Winter  and  Summer,  there  are, 
besides  those  already  suggested,  many  museums, 
parks,  convents  and  churches  to  be  seen,  concern- 
ing which  the  encyclopedic  hotel  porter  will  give 
information. 

The  streets  are  of  continuous  interest.  The 
chief  shopping  avenues  are  the  Petrovka,  the 
Tverskaia  and  the  Kuznetzky  Most.  On  the  lat- 
ter are  several  banks,  and  Datsiaro's  photograph 
store,  among  others  of  importance  to  tourists. 
The  boulevards  intersected  by  wide  streets,  extend 
beyond  the  Kita'i  Gorod  and  the  Red  Square  in 
concentric  circles,  following  the  lines  of  former 
fortifications.  As  the  city  grew,  they  expanded 
further  and  further.     When  the  Slavic  Rome  had 


148  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

no  more  need  of  defending  white  walls,  they  ceased 
to  be,  leaving  in  their  stead,  long  aisles  of  activity, 
shaded  avenues,  and  thronged  promenades. 

Troitsa  Monastery. 

Forty-four  miles  from  Moscow,  beyond  the  Park  of  So- 
kolniky  and  settlements  of  Summer  villas,  is  the  town  of 
Serghievo,  and  above  it,  a  short  drive  or  walk  from  the 
station,  the  Lavra  of  the  Trinity  of  St.  Sergius.  Leaving 
the  Yaroslavl  Station,  Moscow,  at  9:40  a.  m.,  Serghievo  is 
reached  at  11:13. 

If  one  is  pressed  for  time,  it  will  be  better  to 
forego  a  day  in  Moscow  than  to  miss  seeing  this 
marvellous  monastery,  second  in  the  Empire  in 
wealth  and  importance,  but  second  to  none  in 
beauty  and  historic  interest.  It  was  founded  by 
St.  Sergius  in  1340,  devastated  by  the  Tatars, 
and  defended  by  the  monks  against  the  Poles. 
One  of  Vereschagin's  most  noted  paintings  depicts 
this  siege.  Without  warning,  the  monastery  ap- 
pears on  a  hill,  as  the  road  curves  up  from  the 
station.  It  startles  like  an  apparition.  One 
tower,  red,  and  shaped  like  a  giant  crown,  rises 
grandly  above  others  clad  in  white,  rose,  and 
gold.  A  blue  roof  is  spangled  with  gilt  stars. 
The  snowy  tower  of  forty  bells,  climbs  to  the 
right.     A  multitude  of  crosses,  pinnacles  and  lacy 


MOSCOW  149 

chains  twinkle  in  the  sun.     Like  a  protecting  arm, 
the  turretted  wall  encircles  the  whole. 

Below  the  monastery  crowd  the  booths  like  hum- 
ble dependents,  as  indeed  they  are,  for  they  exist 
upon  the  patronage  of  the  hundred  thousand 
pilgrims  who  come  each  year  to  this  Canterbury. 
Religious  emblems,  willow-ware,  embroidered  muz- 
hik shirts,  curious  dolls  and  nodding  bears  entice 
kopeks  from  the  easily  diverted  zealots,  after 
they  have  made  the  tour  of  the  monastery,  have 
kissed  the  robe  of  St.  Sergius,  confessed  their 
sins  before  his  jewel-set  tomb,  have  crossed  them- 
selves before  the  sarcophagus  of  wicked  Boris 
Gudonov  and  his  wife  in  the  Annunciation 
Cathedral,  have  peered  within  the  vari-coloured 
walls  of  the  refectory,  and  drunk  at  the  sacred 
spring.  The  Pilgrims  flock  here  as  long  as  the 
roads  are  passable,  for  was  not  the  body  of  the 
Abbe  Sergius  found  by  the  Patriarch  Nikon  per- 
fectly preserved  and  miraculously  saved  from  the 
Tatar  invaders,  years  after  his  death?  And  who, 
then,  shall  question  the  benefits  of  a  pilgrimage 
here?  The  grandmother  of  Domna  was  healed  of 
blindness,  and  Mikhei  Ivanovich,  did  he  not  drop 
his  crutches  and  limp,  rejoicing,  through  the 
arch,  when  he  had  prayed  before  the  piece  of  wood 
from  the  sacred  coffin  in  the  Troitsky  Sobor? 


150  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

The  Treasury  behind  the  Sobor  has  received 
jewelled  gifts  from  sovereigns  and  Grand  Dukes 
to  the  value  of  seven  hundred  million  rubles.  No- 
where outside  of  Russia  could  such  a  demonstra- 
tion of  religious  devotion  be  found. 

The  tomb  of  the  Metropolitan  Philaret,  who 
drafted  the  protocol  freeing  the  serfs,  is  in  one  of 
the  thirteen  churches  of  the  lavra,  the  "  Descent 
of  the  Cross,"  east  of  the  Sobor,  or  Cathedral. 

A  monk  will  conduct  visitors  up  a  stone  stair- 
way, and  through  long  wandering  passages,  to 
the  Ikon  Studio,  where  artists  sit  painting  the 
inspired  features  of  Nicholas,  Vladimir,  Sergius, 
or  the  Holy  Mother.  Their  work  is  for  sale  at 
the  shop  near  the  entrance,  and  at  very  low  prices. 

At  the  exit,  the  monk  in  the  frayed  gown,  who 
has  been  ingenuously  playing  cicerone,  receives 
half  a  ruble  as  recompense,  and  one  emerges  from 
a  world  of  superstition,  miraculous  healings, 
kneeling  peasants,  ill-smelling  chapels  and  compli- 
cated towers  to  a  sloping  square  bustling  with  pil- 
grims, merchants,  and  clamorous  isvoschiks. 

Opposite  are  the  two  inns  of  the  lavra  which 
provide  clean  fare  and  rooms  at  little  cost.  How- 
ever, the  station  buffet  is  more  satisfactory  for 
dinner. 

For  forty  to  fifty  kopeks  an  hour,  a  tottering 


MOSCOW     POLICEMAN 


MOSCOW  151 

drosky  may  be  secured  to  drive  two  and  a  half 
miles  to  the  Bethany  Convent,  founded  by  the 
Metropolitan  Platon.  Only  men  are  admitted  to 
the  Hei-mitage  Convent  for  men  in  the  forest, 
two  miles  in  another  direction.  Straight  out  the 
road  which  runs  before  the  Troitsa  Monastery,  is 
a  striped  toll-gate,  and,  beyond,  a  settlement  of 
izbas.  The  natural  hospitality  of  the  muzhiks  is 
such  that  one  can  ask  at  almost  any  door  to  pay 
a  visit  and  see  the  interior  of  the  log  homes. 
Some  of  them  are  brightened  by  white  curtains 
and  the  favourite  scarlet  geraniums,  and  have 
painted  gate-posts,  but  one  hut  on  the  right  is 
frankly  dilapidated.  The  entrance  is  through  a 
yard  containing  a  long  discarded  drosky,  now 
inhabited  by  a  family  of  kittens  and  some  soiled 
chickens.  The  smiling  matron  has  seen  her 
guests  arriving  and  beckons  them  in.  They  pass 
through  an  outer  animal  shed  to  a  room  which 
boasts  one  table,  a  samovar,  a  wall  seat,  and  little 
else,  if  one  excepts  the  ikons  in  the  traditional 
comer.  They  are  as  elaborate  as  the  muzhik's 
purse  will  allow.  Before  them  pend  a  half  dozen 
red  lamps  in  pierced  metal  casing.  The  mistress 
of  the  miserable  abode  looks  on,  expecting  the 
words  of  admiration  which  are  duly  given.  A 
tiny  room  on  the  left  is  a  tangle  of  old  bedding 


152  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

and  tattered  blouses.  A  sheepskin  coat  hangs 
from  a  peg,  and  there  is  a  pervading  odour  of 
leather,  tanned  after  the  manner  of  the  Russians. 
Overhead  is  an  attic  which  serves  as  a  dormitory, 
and,  in  the  far  corner  of  the  larger  room,  that 
typical  institution,  a  Russian  stove,  tall,  wide  and 
tiled.  On  its  broad  top,  something  moves  — 
and  cries,  and  from  its  lofty  perch  out  comes  a 
baby's  remonstrating  fist.  The  mother  climbs 
on  a  chair  to  lift  down  the  mite,  and  exhibit  it  with 
proper  pride.  The  little  shape  is  bound  in  red 
swaddling  clothes,  its  cheeks  are  almost  as  red, 
its  eyes  wondering,  and,  like  all  newly-awakened 
baby  eyes,  bright  as  beads.  It  clamours  for  a 
shiny  chain  around  the  caller's  neck ;  to  distract 
it,  the  parent  dangles  a  showy  ikon  before  its 
clutching  fingers.  "  The  name-ikon  of  the  little 
one,"  she  explains,  "  the  good  St.  Olga,"  from 
which  it  is  inferred  that  the  pride  of  its  mother's 
heart  has  received  at  baptism  the  name  of  the 
first  Russian  convert  to  Christianity. 

As  the  strangers  leave  the  house,  they  pass  for 
inspection  before  the  troop  which  has  come  hurry- 
ing in  from  the  fields.  Kerchiefed  women  and 
brawny  harvesters  stand  about  with  pleased 
embarrassment  while  the  camera  is  brought  into 
play.     When  the  ordeal  is  over,  they  innocently 


MOSCOW  153 

demand  pictorial  proof  of  the  photographers' 
occult  powers.  The  one  in  the  group  who  can 
write  scrawls  an  address,  and,  weeks  later,  an 
amateur  print  of  some  bland  muzhiks  is  received 
with  many  exclamations  at  the  izba  on  the  Serg- 
hievo  road,  beyond  the  striped  toll-gate. 

A  train  returns  from  Serghievo  to  Moscow  at  6:43  p.  m. 
Instead  of  going  soutli  to  Moscow,  one  may  continue  north 
on  the  same  road  to  Yaroslavl  (seven  hours  from  Moscow 
and  five  and  a  half  from  Serghievo).  Connection  can  be 
made  at  Yaroslavl  with  Volga  steamers  going  either  down 
the  river  to  Nizhni,  or  up  to  Rybinsk.  There  is  rail  con- 
nection Yaroslavl-Rybinsk-Bologoe-Petersburg. 

The  most  direct  route  from  Moscow  for  the  Volga  is  by 
night  express  (nine  hours)  to  Nizhni  Novgorod.  Those 
who  wish  to  see  the  upper  Volga  can  ascend  the  river  from 
Nizhni  to  Rybinsk.  Or  they  can  go  directly  from  Peters- 
burg to  Rybinsk  via  Bologoe,  proceeding  thence  to  Nizhni 
and  Astrakhan. 

Other  routes  from  Moscow  are  listed  at  the  beginning  of 
Chapter  IX. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

TOUR  OF   THE  VOLGA  AND  THE   CAUCASUS 

Rybinsk  —  Yaroslavl  —  Kostroma  —  Kineshma  —  Goro- 
dets  —  Nizhni  Novgorod  —  Kazan  Simbirsk  —  Samara 
—  Syzran  —  Saratov  —  Tsaritzine  —  Astrakhan 

Baku  —  Tiflis  —  Kutais  —  Batum  —  Grusinian  High- 
road —  Vladikavkas 

The  Volga  —  Transportation. 

The  branch  trains  from  Bologoe  to  Rybinsk 
carry  no  first-class  carriages  and  are  slow.  But 
those  who  are  not  exacting  as  to  speed  and  luxury 
will  find  the  journey  far  from  uncomfortable, 
and  will  have  as  their  reward  the  Upper  Volga 
voyage,  which  is  worth  some  slight  inconvenience. 
The  towns  and  hamlets  are  unqualifiedly  Russian, 
are  often  beautifully  placed  on  the  river  banks, 
and  are  enveloped  in  historic  legend.  The  real 
Russia  is  disclosed  as  the  steamer  chugs  down 
stream  from  Rybinsk  to  Nizhni,  and  on  to  Astra- 
khan on  the  Caspian  Sea.  As  a  "  rest  cure  "  it 
would  be  difficult  to  excel  the  Volga  tour.  The 
shores  are  tranquil,  the  boats  comfortable,  the 
fare  tasty  and  abundant.  Oil  is  used  for  fuel, 
so  that   the   decks   are  always  free  of  soot  and 

154 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  155 

cinders.  Constant  embarking  and  disembarking 
at  frequent  landings  acquaints  the  traveller  with 
odd  individualities  and  unfamiliar  customs.  And, 
occasionally,  a  strange,  enchanting  scene  unfolds 
as  the  steamer  glides  around  a  bend  of  the  russet 
river. 

The  luxury  and  comfort  of  the  Volga  steamers 
is  always  a  surprise  to  foreign  travellers,  unless 
they  have  learned  by  former  experience  that  the 
Russian  demands  on  land  and  water  that  his 
journey  be  attended  with  the  maximum  of  creature 
conveniences,  even  though  he  pays  for  them  far 
less  than  his  fellows  in  other  lands. 

The  first-class  cabins  on  all  lines  are  toward  the 
bow,  the  second-class,  on  the  same  deck,  astern. 
The  deck  is  enjoyed  by  both  classes  without  dis- 
tinction. The  same  menu  is  served  in  both  dining- 
rooms.  The  second-class  accommodation  is  so 
excellent  that  many  business  men,  professors,  and 
well-to-do  families  patronise  it.  The  upholstery 
and  decoration  of  the  cabins  are  slightly  less  pre- 
tentious, and  the  saloon  is  more  modest.  The 
saloons  and  cabins  of  both  classes  are  lighted  by 
electricity. 

The  use  of  a  cabin  is  included  in  the  cost  of 
transportation  on  all  steamers.  There  are  many 
single  berth  cabins,   for  which  there  is  no  addi- 


156  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

tional  charge.  Bedding  may  be  hired  from  the 
stewardesses.  It  is  the  rule  on  all  the  lines  to 
allow  passengers  to  remain  on  board  over  night 
when  in  port,  without  charge. 

At  Nizhni,  the  passenger  for  the  Lower  Volga 
changes  steamers,  after  a  33-hour  journey  from 
Rybinsk.  Many  of  the  Nizhni-Astrakhan  boats 
are  elegant  to  a  degree  not  attained  on  any 
other  sound  or  river  steamers.  The  first-class 
cabins  have  daintily  shaded  electric  reading- 
lamps,  well-fitted  lavatories,  luxurious  couches, 
and  hangings  and  other  appointments  in  excep- 
tional taste.  The  dining  and  lounging  saloon 
contains  individual  tables,  a  piano,  a  writing  desk, 
and  arm  chairs  placed  by  the  windows  and  the 
large  bow  front  of  plate  glass,  from  which  one  can 
look  out  upon  the  tortuous  channel  quite  protected 
from  the  weather. 

The  Volga  Society  of  1843,  the  Samolet,  the 
Rus,  and  the  Caucasus-Mercury  are  the  principal 
lines.  The  Samolet  boats  leave  Rybinsk  every 
day,  and  the  others  have  sailings  four  or  five 
times  a  week  from  both  Rybinsk  and  Nizhni, 
including  intermediate  stops.  The  rate  for 
transportation  and  meals  is  uniform  on  all  lines. 

The  cost  of  transportation  and  cabin,  first-  and  second- 
class,  by  the  routes  given  below  is  as  follows: 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  157 

First-class  Second-class 

Rail,    Petersburg-Bologoe-Ryblnsk.,.Rs.l5.50  Rs.  9.30 

Steamer,    Rybinsk-Astrakhan 33.75  22.30 

Total,  Petersburg<-Rybinsk-Astra- 

khan    Rs.49.25  Rs.31.60 


Rail,  Petersburg-Moscow-Nizhni  No\*- 

gorod    Rs.22.00  Rs.13.20 

Steamer,  Nizhni-Astrakhan   27.75  17.80 

Total,  Petersburg-Moscow-Nizhni- 
Astrakhan       Rs.49.75  Rs.31.00 

Steamer,  Rybinsk-Nizhni  Novgorod . ,  Rs.  6.00  4.50 

MEALS,    AT    OPTION    OF    PASSEKGEE 

Morning  coffee   Rs.  .35k. 

Tea    25 

Lunch,   two   dishes,   11:00-1:00 65 

Dinner,   2 :00-6 :00    1.00 

Supper,  two  dishes,  9:00-11 :00 65 

Total  cost  of  mealiS  per  day Rs.2.90 

Meals  are  served  on  deck  or  in  cabin  without  suoplement 
in  price. 

HIKE   OF  BEDtDIKG   FOR  THREE   KIOHTS 

Blanket    Rs.  .50k. 

Pillow    25 

Sheet   20 

Towel    10 

Rybinsk. 

From    the   quay   Rybinsk   resembles    a    seaport. 
As  far  as  the  eye  can  follow  are  cargo  and  lum- 


158  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

ber  boats  moving  up  and  down  stream,  or  moored 
to  the  docks.  There  is  a  forest  of  masts  on  both 
sides  of  the  river.  Towering  above  the  busy  scene 
is  the  Church  of  the  Transfiguration,  whose  domes 
are  a  beacon  from  afar  to  craft  coming  down  from 
Tver  or  up  from  Yaroslavl,  Nizhni,  and  the 
south.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Rybinsk  there  are 
about  a  hundred  thousand  people  who  live  by  fish- 
ing. 

The  traveller  who  embarks  upon  his  first  Volga 
journey  will  do  so  with  a  degree  of  emotion. 
"  Mother  Volga  "  is  the  longest  river  in  Europe 
(2300  miles  from  Valdai  Hills  to  Caspian  Sea), 
and  for  hundreds  of  years  it  has  been  sung  in 
folk-song  and  recited  in  fable.  It  has  carried  the 
cargoes  of  a  greater  number  of  nations  than  any 
other  river.  Railroads  are  a  comparatively 
recent  innovation  in  most  of  the  nine  provinces  it 
traverses.  Until  late  years,  it  was  the  main  high- 
way for  the  commerce  of  the  East  with  Russia, 
and  it  is  still  the  only  means  of  transportation, 
aside  from  the  wagon  roads,  for  many  of  the 
settlements  adjacent  to  it. 

It  constantly  reminds  one  of  the  Mississippi :  It 
is  shallow  and  broad,  brown  and  crooked.  The 
banks  are  frequently  a  mass  of  uprooted  trees  and 
tumbling  earth.     There  is  the  same  sense  of  being 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  159 

estranged  from  the  rest  of  the  country.  The 
batraks  substitute  the  roustabouts,  with  the  dif- 
ference that  they  are  stoic  Slavs  instead  of  rollick- 
ing black  men.  And  with  the  further  difference 
that  they  work  eighteen  hours  a  day  as  no 
negroes  would  consent  to  work.  They  are  paid 
half  a  ruble  a  day  as  against  six  rubles  a  day, 
including  good  board  and  lodging,  paid  to  the 
Mississippi  labourers. 

The  batrak's  back  is  strapped  with  a  carrier  on 
which  his  burden  is  loaded,  often  in  the  hold. 
Then,  weighted  to  the  limit  of  man's  endurance, 
he  must  climb  the  steep  steps  to  the  deck  and  cross 
the  gang-plank  to  the  pier.  Sometimes  as  the 
huge  hamper,  or  wooden  case,  or  bale  bends  him 
double,  his  breath  comes  out  with  involuntary 
groans.  The  batraks  walk  with  a  peculiar  loping 
spread  of  the  limbs.  As  they  crawl  up  from  the 
bowels  of  the  ship,  hands  on  steps  to  steady  them, 
they  look  like  gnomes  under  their  packs,  a  pro- 
cession almost  unearthly,  and  certainly  distress- 
ing to  the  humane.  The  distance  to  the  dock 
traversed,  they  come  swinging  back  like  unbur- 
dened Atlases,  seeking  new  worlds  to  carry  —  for 
a  shilling  a  day,  and  half  a  night. 


160  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Yaroslavl. 

The  view  of  Yaroslavl  from  the  river  is  one  of 
the  most  charming  sights  in  the  kingdom.  The 
city  ranges  along  the  crest  of  a  green  terrace 
sloping  to  the  quays,  which  are  always  thronged 
with  river  craft.  Above  it  is  the  profusion  of 
green,  silver,  grey,  and  gold  spires  of  seventy- 
five  churches  and  convents.  There  is  also  an 
Arch-Episcopal  Palace  and  a  Governor's  resi- 
dence. The  Government  of  Yaroslavl  is  to  be 
remarked  for  its  excellent  cheese,  and  for  very 
large  cotton  and  hardware  factories.  The  first 
theatre  in  the  country  was  opened  here  in  a  ware- 
house in  1750  by  the  actors  Volkov  and  Poliush- 
kine.  Yaroslavl  is  endowed  with  an  unusually 
fair  legacy  of  pretty  femininity,  which  cannot  be 
said  of  all  Great  Russian  cities. 

From  Yaroslavl,  a  railway  mounts  due  north  to  the  old 
town  of  Vologda,  where  Peter  I  once  lived.  It  is  also 
reached  from  Petersburg  by  a  new  road.  A  522-mile  jour- 
ney from  Yaroslavl  through  flat  country  and  pine  forests 
leads  to  Arkhangel  at  the  mouth  of  the  Dwina  on  the 
White  Sea.  An  Englishman,  Sir  Richard  Chancellor, 
stopped  at  the  eventual  site  of  the  city  in  the  late  years  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  on  his  voyage  to  find  a  sea  route  to 
India  by  way  of  the  north.  Later,  he  was  summoned  to 
Moscow  by  Ivan  the  Terrible,  who  was  the  first  Tsar  to  es- 
tablish relations,  diplomatic  and  commercial,  with  the  Eng- 
lish.   Prior  to  the  founding  of  Petersburg,  this  port  was 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  161 

Russia's  only  important  harbour  on  her  northern  coast. 
The  ports  southwest  of  the  capital  were  not  then  under 
Russian  rule.  From  Arkhangel  there  are  boats  to  Arctic 
villages  as  well  as  to  Sweden.  Norwegian,  German,  Brit- 
ish, Dutch,  Swedish,  and  Danish  cargo  vessels  enter  the 
harbour  in  large  numbers  during  the  open  season  from 
May  to  October.  There  are  many  ships  engaged  in  Pelagic 
seal  fishing  in  the  abundant  waters  of  the  White  Sea. 
The  far-famed  Solovetsky  Convent,  one  of  the  richest  in 
Russia,  is  accessible  by  the  Monastery  boat  which  makes 
the  trip  to  the  island  shrine  in  about  thirteen  hours.  Fif- 
teen thousand  pilgrims  visit  this  most  northerly  convent 
annually.     It  is  in  65°  latitude. 

Kostroma  —  Kineshma  —  Gorodets. 

The  steamer  slips  down  the  river  pasu  monas- 
teries and  grey  villages,  clinging  to  clay  banks. 
The  inhabitants  are  chiefly  "  Old  Believers,"  a 
sect  which  dissented  under  Alexis  from  a  revision 
of  the  liturgy  proposed  by  Nikon,  and  veho  hold 
tenaciously,  not  only  to  their  distinctive  religious 
tenets,  but  to  certain  peculiar  customs. 

There  are  flocks  of  black  sheep  nibbling  the 
meadows  on  the  river  edge,  and  fields  of  fat  cows 
and  heavy-substanced  horses.  Crows  fly  in  clouds 
so  dense  that  they  cast  prophetic  shadows  across 
the  grain  acres  they  alight  to  devour.  Two  green 
roofs,  a  bell  tower,  seven  sprawling  windmills,  a 
half-broken  arch,  and  a  ruined  arena  come  suc- 
cessively into  the  picture.  A  sedate  barge  plods 
upstream  led  by  an  impatient  tug.     On  the  after- 


162  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

deck  of  the  barge  is  the  habitation  of  the  stal- 
warts who  man  it.  They  hang  about  the  minia- 
ture steps  to  the  hut  waiting  for  supper.  The 
smoke  of  the  evening  fire  rises  from  an  improvised 
chimney.  Out  of  a  wee  window-pane  stares  a 
woman's  face,  half  hidden  by  scraggly  geraniums 
and  a  white  curtain.  The  men,  bearded  and  gen- 
erously built,  wear  the  familiar  scarlet  shirt, 
and  boots  almost  to  tlieir  thighs.  They  lift  their 
hands  in  greeting  as  a  raft  moves  past,  headed  for 
Nizhni.  The  raftsmen  have  a  habitation  too, 
comprised  of  a  few  poles  raised  tent-wise  and 
hung  with  burlap  and  matting. 

At  sunset,  the  Monastery  of  St.  Nicholas  Thau- 
maturge appears  on  a  hill.  At  the  landing  below 
it,  the  steamer  is  made  fast  and  the  Faithful  file 
off  to  the  little  chapel  on  the  dock,  where  an  old 
celebrant  reads  the  vesper  service.  Two  boy 
songsters,  imitating  their  more  melodious  broth- 
ers of  the  Imperial  Choir,  chant  the  Psalms,  their 
voices  strained  to  the  rasping  point.  The  cargo 
is  loaded  and  the  wharf  bell  rings  in  warning. 
The  evening  congregation  files  back  again,  first 
stopping  to  kiss  the  hand  of  the  gaunt  priest  in 
the  tinselled  vestments.  This  monastery  and  the 
chapel  on  the  river  are  particularly  precious  to 
the  Russians,     St.   Nicholas  the  Wonder-worker 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  163 

is  the  name-saint  of  Tsar  Nicholas.  There  is  a 
painting  of  him  by  Repine  in  the  Alexander  III 
Museum.  On  the  hill-side  some  pilgrims  are  eat- 
ing and  resting  before  going  to  bed  inside  the 
convent  in  the  quarters  reserved  for  them.  The 
monastic  walls  and  turrets  retreat  toward  the 
horizon.  The  late  twilight  falls.  The  lamp- 
lighters make  the  rounds  of  the  buoys  which  out- 
line the  day  path  for  the  steamers.  The  bright 
red  of  the  bobbing  buoys  is  lost  in  the  dark.  The 
steamboat  pursues  its  channel,  edged  on  both  sides 
by  twinkling  sentinels. 

Within  the  fortress  of  the  Ipatiev  Monastery 
near  Kostroma,  Michael  Romanov  hid  from  the 
Poles  in  1613,  and,  later,  was  followed  by  the 
bishops  and  boyars  who  elected  him  Emperor. 
The  peasant  Susanine  who  refused  to  betray  the 
youth's  refuge  to  the  pursuing  Poles,  was  assas- 
sinated by  them.  The  incident  inspired  Glinka's 
"  Life  for  the  Tsar,"  which  is  the  favourite 
national  opera.  A  monument  in  Kostroma  on  the 
Place  named  for  Susanine,  commemorates  his 
heroism.  Kostroma  is  a  lumber  mart,  and  of 
considerable  local  importance  also,  for  its  prepar- 
ation of  tar  and  resin.  The  native  droskics 
which  swarm  around  the  landing  are  a  ludicrous 
cross  between  a  phaeton  and  a  jaunting-car. 


164  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Twenty-five  miles  below  is  the  village  of  Kras- 
noe,  whose  population  works  almost  entirely  in 
the  production  of  metal  ornamentation  for  ikoni. 
Kineshma  inhabitants  are  famous  lace-makers  and 
linen-weavers.  Thousands  of  families  make  their 
living  in  this  province  by  weaving  table-cloths, 
serviettes,  towels,  et  cetera.  They  work  in  their 
own  homes,  and  constitute  part  of  the  army  of 
kustari  craftsmen  who  supply  the  Russian  and 
foreign  markets  with  a  variety  of  products.  In 
accordance  with  the  Russians'  fondness  for  co-op- 
eration, entire  districts  are  often  given  over  to 
the  manufacture  of  one  class  of  articles.  The 
Department  of  Rural  Economy  under  the  Minis- 
try of  Agriculture  employs  a  staff  of  experts  in 
kustari  work,  superintends  schools  teaching  the 
various  trades,  lends  money  to  assist  industries, 
and  maintains  a  Museum  at  St.  Petersburg.  In 
Moscow,  there  is  a  similar  Museum  which  pro- 
motes the  sale  of  kustari  goods,  and  exhibits  at 
International  Expositions.  In  London,  Paris 
and  Berlin  permanent  exhibitions  have  been 
opened  for  the  marketing  of  wooden  spoons,  laces, 
willow-ware,  toys,  pottery,  nets,  scarves,  painted 
boxes,  jewellery,  dolls,  and  drawn-work.  Many 
of  the  workers  receive  less  than  half  a  ruble  a  day, 
some  as  little  as  twenty  kopeks.     Many  of  the 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  165 

designs  they  employ  have  descended  from  the 
earliest  years  of  the  Empire.  They  are  usually 
odd  and  sometimes  of  real  beauty.  They  invari- 
ably have  a  character  which  differentiates  them 
from  the  products  of  all  other  nations. 

The  river  widens  and  flows  among  sandy  islands. 
The  Province  of  Kostroma  drops  behind,  and 
the  steamer  enters  the  Province  of  Nizhni  Nov- 
gorod. One  shore  remains  flat  and  arid  of  inter- 
est, while  the  other  is  high  and  varied. 

The  spice  bread  of  Gorodets  is  a  questionable 
delicacy,  much  in  favour  with  the  Russians,  as  wit- 
ness the  rush  for  the  old  women's  baskets  directly 
the  hawsers  are  fastened.  A  gentleman  travelling 
back  to  Moscow  tells  you  that  he  has  been  com- 
missioned by  his  sisters  to  bring  home  some  of  the 
bast  baskets  of  insipid  sweet  cakes  strewn  with 
jam  and  coarse  sugar.  He  crowds  a  father  lay- 
ing in  a  supply  for  his  children,  and  they  both 
bargain  excitedly  with  the  aged  dame,  who  holds 
out  for  her  price  until  the  gong  sounds,  and  then 
succumbs.  In  a  neighboring  convent,  St.  Alex- 
ander Nevsky  died  in  1263.  Fifty  miles  further 
on,  the  Lower  New  City,  or  Nizhni  Novgorod, 
appears  at  the  confluence  of  the  Oka  with  the 
Volga. 


166  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Nizhni  Novgorod. 

Through  passengers  have  time  to  see  the  Fair 
Town  before  the  Astrakhan  boat  sails.  Nizhni 
is  Russia's  Gate  to  the  East.  It  was  established 
in  1212  to  resist  the  encroachments  of  Mordvins 
and  Bulgars.  As  the  capital  of  the  Government 
of  Nizhni  Novgorod,  it  is  the  centre  of  a  prosper- 
ous manufacturing  district.  It  has  some  fine 
buildings,  secular  and  ecclesiastical.  Most  of  the 
latter  are  in  the  Kremlin  on  top  of  a  very  steep 
hill.  From  the  Alexander  Garden,  the  outlook 
over  the  broad  Volga  and  its  sister  streams,  the 
Oka  and  the  Vezloma,  far  beyond  to  the  hay- 
fields  and  plains  reaching  hundreds  of  miles 
toward  the  Urals,  is  famous  with  good  cause. 
Few  pastoral  scenes  excel  it. 

Returning  to  the  lower  town  and  driving  out  the 
Rojestvenskai'a,  the  main  street,  one  arrives  at  the 
pontine  bridge,  a  wooden  highway  which  conducts 
in  the  Summer  time  to  the  opposite  Fair.  This 
Yarmark  is  the  largest  and  most  renowned  of  all 
annual  Fairs.  It  is  the  descendant  of  the  one 
organised  by  the  Tatars  at  Kazan,  and  also  of 
another  which  was  near  the  convent  of  St.  Makary, 
and  was  later  burned.  The  natives  still  call  the 
world  mart  of  Nizhni  the  Makary  Fair.  From 
the    fifteenth    of   July    to    September   tenth,    the 


TOUR  OP  THE  VOLGA  167 

sandy  plain  is  thronged  with  traders  from  east 
and  west.  In  former  times,  barges  and  caravans 
were  the  only  means  of  transporting  the  mer- 
chandise, and  in  those  days  the  Fair  had  more 
appeal  to  the  romantic.  Railways,  steamboats, 
and  advanced  business  methods  have  modernised 
the  great  market  to  its  disadvantage,  from  the 
tourist's  view-point.  The  outer  quarters  still 
maintain  an  oriental  mien,  and  a  walk  among  the 
ware-houses  and  booths  teaches  an  instructive 
lesson  in  the  products  of  the  universe.  The  press 
on  the  bridge  indicates  the  chaos  of  nations  gath- 
ered to  sell  and  buy.  Merchants  from  Bokhara 
and  Turkestan,  from  the  tundras  and  cities  of 
Siberia,  from  the  Caucasus  and  Turkey;  Bach- 
kirs,  Chouvaches,  Jews  from  White  Russia, 
Poles,  Germans,  Belgians  and  Anglo-Saxons 
almost  outnumber  the  Slavs.  Above  all,  the 
Tatars  are  in  evidence.  The  ingenuous  Russian 
says,  "  A  Tatar  can  get  around  a  Russian,  a  Jew 
around  a  Tatar,  an  American  around  a  Jew,  and 
a  Greek  can  scoop  them  all  in."  But  even  if  the 
Tatar  is  placed  so  far  down  in  this  scale  of  sagac- 
ity, he  gives  a  shrewd  account  of  himself  at  the 
Makary.  Many  of  his  competitors  would  re- 
arrange the  above  category  and  substitute 
"  Tatar  "  for  "  Greek." 


168  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

The  streets  which  radiate  from  the  Alexander 
Nevsky  Church  on  the  Oka's  bank,  are  given  over 
to  glass-ware,  pottery,  painted  chests,  and  bells. 
Moored  to  the  quays  are  craft  which  have  come 
west  on  the  Kama,  north  from  the  Caspian,  and 
down  from  the  Baltic  through  the  canals  which 
complete  a  water-way  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Volga.  A  promenade  in  a  main  avenue  will  dis- 
cover numerous  intersecting  streets,  each  special- 
ising on  a  different  sort  of  merchandise.  There 
is  the  tea  quarter,  the  street  of  Persian  dried 
fruits,  nuts,  and  carpets,  another  of  Asiatic  slip- 
pers, stamped  leather,  and  embroidered  silks. 
There  are  sections  where  only  furs  are  sold ; 
others  are  consecrated  to  soap,  wines,  hardware, 
linens,  spices,  striped  cottons,  spoons,  and  filigree 
silver.  A  pair  of  calculating  eyes  under  a  tur- 
ban, a  long  brown  khalat  or  a  burnoose,  a  full 
flowered  petticoat,  a  garment  fluttering  open 
over  a  pleated  poda,  pendant  ear-rings  and  chains 
of  Circassian  silver  .  .  .  occasionally  these 
suggest  the  puzzling  people  of  the  East. 

But  in  the  central  building,  which  contains  2530 
shops  and  booths,  romance  flees  before  occidental 
wares.  Typewriters  crowd  cheap  baubles.  The 
post  card  vendor  is  familiarly  insistent.  Shoes 
from  Lynn  and  Northampton  fill  show  windows, 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  169 

and  dark-skinned  salesmen  display  machine-made 
rugs  and  embroideries  with  which  habitues  of  sea- 
side resorts  are  already  acquainted.  Some  of  the 
gem  shops  recall  the  Rue  de  la  Paix.  The  trays 
and  ornaments  of  Siberian  gems  are  interesting 
for  their  novelty  and  sometimes  for  their  colour 
and  brilliancy. 

The  Mussulman  may  be  found  at  prayer  at  his 
mosque.  Near  the  central  building  is  the  Armen- 
ian chapel.  Down  in  the  "  Chinese  Quarter  "  is 
the  old  Greek  church.  The  restaurants  are  scat- 
tered and  of  varying  degrees  of  respectability. 
For  lunch,  the  Bourse  restaurant,  by  the  end  of 
the  bridge,  is  particularly  fancied. 

The  trading  is  heaviest  between  the  seventh  and 
the  eighteenth  of  August  (New  Style).  In  good 
years,  the  total  turn-over  of  the  Fair  is  approxi- 
mately Rs.130,000,000.  As  a  meeting-place  of 
nations  and  an  international  exchange,  Nizhni  will 
probably  never  have  an  equal.  After  it  in  impor- 
tance is  the  fair  at  Irbit,  a  fur  centre  near  Eka- 
terinaburg  beyond  the  Urals.  The  sales  here 
from  January  twenty-fifth  to  March  first  amount 
to  Rs. 30,000,000.  In  all,  there  are  thirty  large 
fairs  throughout  Russia,  scattered  over  a  terri- 
tory extending  from  Arkhangel  to  Rostov-on-Don 
and  from  Kiev  to  Tobolsk  and  Tiumen. 


170  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Below  Nizhni,  the  tourist,  already  introduced  to 
Asiatic  features  and  costuming,  will  enter  a  realm 
which  is  even  more  oriental  in  atmosphere. 
Below  decks  on  the  steamboat,  sharp-nosed,  slant- 
eyed,  thin-bearded  Tatars  play  strange  games, 
squat-legged  on  the  boards.  Some  Mordvin 
women  and  their  children  fetch  hot  water  and 
make  tea  from  bricks  of  broken  and  pressed 
leaves.  For  hot  water,  first  and  second-class 
passengers  pay  5k.  per  portion,  third-class,  3k., 
and  fourth-class,  2k.  Soldiers  pay  nothing. 
Waiters  pass  up  and  down  the  deck,  followed  by 
the  hungry  eyes  of  the  children.  Tea  is  their 
supper  portion,  with  a  slice  of  sour  rye  bread.  A 
trafficker  in  red  and  yellow  candies  solicits  trade 
in  vain.  Every  kopek  in  the  grimy  portemon- 
naies  must  go  toward  the  homeward  journey. 

In  the  bow  there  is  the  slim  tinkle  of  a  balalaika, 
and  laughter.  A  tall  muzhik,  over  six  feet,  with 
a  winning  boyish  face,  is  twanging  the  instru- 
ment, which,  with  the  garmonka,  or  accordion,  is 
the  peasant's  favourite.  Another  passenger, 
imbued  by  the  catchy  strumming,  begins  to  dance 
with  a  palm  to  the  back  of  his  neck,  and  his 
booted  legs  crossing  and  re-crossing  with  some 
agility.  Then  with  hands  on  hips,  he  does  the 
dance,  thrusting  first  one  foot  forward  and  then 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  171 

the  other,  while  sitting  on  the  heels,  which  every 
one  has  seen  who  in  late  years  has  patronised 
vaudeville.  But  this  tests  too  severely  his  rather 
stiff  joints,  and  he  springs  up  to  resume  the 
simpler  movements.  Meanwhile,  the  tall  musician 
has  caught  up  the  air  and  is  singing  the  words 
with  much  fervour  —  more  fervour  than  tuneful- 
ness, though,  on  the  whole,  it  is  effective.  The 
performance  done,  he  discovers  the  row  of  faces 
above  him.  He  makes  a  gallant  plea  for  kopeks, 
holding  out  his  cap  and  addressing  the  onlookers 
with  oratorical  grace.  Some  of  the  passengers 
respond  in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  naive  effort. 
Upon  which  the  entertainment  proceeds.  That 
Ivan  is  the  weest  bit  tipsy  does  not  detract  from 
his  zeal  to  please.  Encouraged  by  his  success, 
he  is  joined  by  a  garmonka  performer,  with  whom 
he  has  difficulty  in  getting  in  tune.  At  intervals 
other  dancers  volunteer,  and  are  rewarded  by 
copper  pieces.  Someone  calls  for  "  Matushka 
Volga,"  that  song  in  praise  of  the  old  river  which 
every  Volga  peasant,  batrak,  and  boatman 
knows.  The  mellow  tune,  set  to  even  more  mel- 
low words,  swells  from  a  desultory  solo  to  a  full- 
throated  chorus,  as  embarrassment  is  lost  in 
sentiment.  Verse  after  verse  rings  out  in  tribute 
to  Mother  Volga.     The  men  improvise  the  parts 


172  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

with  the  skill  of  the  Russian  choral  singer,  and 
the  maidens  carry  the  lovely  air.  The  musicale 
ended,  hunger  calls,  and  then  bologna  and  bread, 
cold  fried  fish,  tea,  and  vodka  are  consumed  with 
appetite.  The  knight  of  the  Balalaika  spends 
his  recent  earnings  for  some  sugar  lumps,  which 
he  puts  in  his  mouth  and  allows  to  melt  as  he 
drinks  the  tea.  He  smiles  up  at  his  benefactors. 
His  face  is  very  winsome. 

Near  him  lies  a  wretched  specimen,  a  Kalmuk 
with  shaven  head  and  a  long  lean  body.  He  rises 
on  an  elbow  and  begins  to  sort  some  hazel  nuts 
and  bayberries  in  his  palm.  A  lady  on  the  upper 
deck  throws  down  a  half-finished  box  of  chocolates 
to  the  poor  piece  of  humanity,  starving  on  dried 
kernels.  He  looks  up  dully,  as  the  box  strikes  his 
arm.  She  motions  to  him  to  open  it.  He  gets 
up  and  reaches  it  out  to  her.  She  signs  again, 
"  No  open  it.  It  is  for  you."  Whereat  he 
stares,  uncomprehending  that  anyone  should 
offer  him  anything.  It  is  impossible  to  make  him 
understand.  He  hesitates.  Then  with  a  long 
arm  he  hurls  the  token  into  the  wake  of  the  boat. 
He  drops  back  into  the  sprawling  attitude,  and 
props  his  head  on  his  filthy  pack  to  sleep,  slightly 
impatient  at  the  interruption  of  the  foreigners 
who  had  presumptuously  disturbed  him  by  cast- 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  173 

ing  down  a  discarded  box.  To  open  the  gaily 
flowered  affair  and  pry  into  its  contents  had  not 
crossed  his  mind.  No  one  in  all  his  life  had  ever 
made  him  a  present.  Why  should  he  suspect  that 
anyone,  on  the  impulse,  had  done  so  now.? 

A  sister  ship  bound  up  from  Kazan  salutes  and 
passes,  leaving  a  frothy  chocolate  path  lighted 
by  a  shaft  of  electricity.  Inside  the  dining- 
room  an  officer  in  the  uniform  of  the  Horse  Gren- 
adiers is  supping  near  a  window  with  a  diva  from 
the  Moscow  Opera.  The  waiter  has  arrived  with 
an  order  of  sterlet,  which  is,  after  all,  like  an 
eel  in  flavour  and  fibre,  but  rather  inferior,  to  the 
foreign  palate.  But  when  a  Russian  commands 
sterlet  on  the  Volga,  its  habitat,  he  sits  back  with 
an  expectant  air,  and,  later,  at  the  servant's 
coming,  lifts  the  cover  reverently,  and  eats  the 
fish  with  the  manner  of  one  performing  a  rite. 
The  Russians  take  with  the  utmost  seriousness 
all  that  relates  to  their  stomachs. 

At  the  long  centre  table  a  Tatar  family  of  the 
upper  class  is  devouring  a  dish,  also  peculiar  to 
the  Volga.  It  is  concocted  of  fish,  vegetables, 
cheese,  and  white  grapes.  The  mother  of  the 
group  is  very  pretty  in  a  dark,  sparkling  way. 
She  wears  a  bandeau  of  small  pearls  and  a  sort 
of   mantilla    of  black   lace.     Her   husband,   who 


174  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

may  be  a  linen  manufacturer,  carries  himself  with 
the  airs  of  prosperity.  His  silk  skull-cap  is  the 
rich  relation  of  the  brown  cloth  head-gear  of  the 
Tatars  playing  cards  below  decks. 

The  sandy  stretches  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
broadening  stream  resemble  more  and  more  the 
Flemish  coast.  The  few  towns  are  an  indefinite 
mass  of  thatched  roofs,  over-topped  by  assertive 
cupolas.  Near  Vassilsursk,  the  Saura  empties 
its  tribute  into  the  lap  of  the  Volga,  the  basin  of 
which  is  bigger  than  all  of  Germany.  Settle- 
ments of  Cheremissi  and  Chouvache  appear  on  the 
increasingly  high  banks. 

Kazan. 

Eighteen  hours  from  Nizhni,  the  ancient  capital 
of  the  Tatars  is  sighted.  The  Kazan  docks  are 
a  long  way  from  the  city,  but  the  boats  consume 
three  to  four  hours,  usually,  in  handling  cargo, 
so  that  there  is  enough  time  to  take  the  tram  five 
miles  across  the  barren  meadows  to  the  city. 
Kazan  is  built  on  many  hills,  surveying  the  Volga 
and  its  branch,  the  Kazanka.  Khans  and  Tsars 
fought  for  years  over  the  town  and  its  depend- 
encies. Since  Ivan  the  Terrible's  reign  it  has 
belonged  to  the  Russians.  But  there  are  still 
one-third  as  many  mosques  as   churches,  and  in 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  175 

the  Tatar  quarter  one  meets  many  Mussulmcn 
and  their  attractive  women  wearing  the  tantalis- 
ing fereedje. 

The  old  monuments  in  the  city  are  few,  and  the 
modern  ones  not  of  especial  interest.  A  long 
street  bordered  by  trees,  the  Voskressenskaia, 
crosses  the  town  to  the  Kremlin.  There  are  few 
cities  in  the  realm  of  Russia  which  have  not  such 
a  fortress  surrounding  the  heart  of  the  city,  and 
poised  on  a  commanding  height.  The  cathedral 
has  its  share  of  treasures,  and  many  relics.  The 
Souioumbeka  Tower  stands  near  the  cathedral. 
There  are  seven  stories  in  retreat  with  a  pyra- 
midal roof,  resembling  in  its  Tatar  design  the 
Borovitsky  Gate  in  Moscow.  A  flight  of  steps 
ascend  to  the  top,  which  are  mounted  for  the 
view. 

Conflicting  stories  are  told  concerning  the  ikon 
known  as  Our  Lady  of  Kazan.  Some  affirm  that 
the  original  remained  in  the  Bogoroditsky  Con- 
vent in  Kazan,  where  it  was  miraculously  dis- 
covered in  the  earth  when  workmen  were  laying 
the  foundations  of  the  convent.  Others  assert 
with  equal  assurance  that  the  painting  was  taken 
to  St.  Petersburg  upon  the  burning  of  Kazan. 
If  the  latter  theory  is  true,  then  it  was  a  copy  of 
the   wonder   picture   which   was   mounted   on   the 


176  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

screen  in  the  convent  church  and  which  was 
stolen  six  years  ago  for  its  jewels  and  never 
recovered.  The  nuns  of  the  convent  have  a 
school  for  the  orphaned  daughters  of  priests, 
and  make  ikons  and  gold  embroideries. 

The  University  of  Kazan,  with  about  thirty- 
five  hundred  students,  specializes  in  oriental  lan- 
guages. The  nucleus  of  its  large  library  were 
books  collected  by  Prince  Potemkine.  Lace  mak- 
ing furnishes  occupation  to  almost  the  entire 
female  population  of  this  Province  of  Kazan,  as 
it  does  in  the  Provinces  of  Riazan,  Orel,  Nizhni 
Novgorod,  Viatka,  Perm,  Kaluga  and  Tver.  In 
all,  there  are  probably  forty  thousand  women,  or 
more,  who  make  their  living  by  the  lace  industry. 
The  patterns  vary  in  different  districts.  The 
wages  rarely  exceed  thirty  kopeks  a  day.  The 
factories  of  Kazan  produce  bells,  candles,  and 
Russia  leather. 

From  Kazan,  boats  run  up  the  Kama,  one  of  the  longest 
of  the  Siberian  rivers,  to  Perm,  four  hours  away. 

There  is  rail  connection  for  Moscow,  via  Kolomna  and 
Riazan.  There  are  no  express  trains,  and  the  journey  is 
forty-three  hours  long. 

The  Volga's  course  after  leaving  Nizhni  is 
easterly,  but  from  Kazan  it  turns  as  directly 
south.     Below  the  mouth  of  the  Kama,  the  shores 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  177 

are  wooded  with  pines,  oaks  and  nut  trees.  The 
height  of  the  banks  presages  the  towering  crags 
near  Samara. 

The  Archaeological  Society  of  Klazan  owns  the 
ruins  of  the  city  of  Bulgary,  forty  miles  below 
Kazan.  The  Bulgars  originally  settled  on  the 
Black  Sea  shores,  and  were  driven  north  from  the 
Don  by  the  Khazars.  In  the  seventh  century 
they  are  thought  to  have  migrated  in  two  divi- 
sions, one  going  toward  the  Danube,  and  the  other 
to  the  Volga.  Here  the  descendants  of  the  Huns 
formed  an  empire.  Their  once  flourishing  city 
was  razed  by  Tatars  six  centuries  after  the 
tribe's  advent  on  the  Volga.  These  eloquent 
ruins  were  discovered  over-grown  in  a  forest  in 
the  time  of  Peter  I.  They  lie  about  five  miles 
from  the  Volga  near  a  small  village. 

Simbirsk  —  Samara  —  Syzran  —  Saratov  — Tsar- 
itzine. 

Simbirsk  is  on  an  eminence  and  makes  a  rather 
striking  picture  from  the  river,  winding  south 
among  leafy  islands.  It  has  nothing  to  offer 
the  tourist  except  the  customary  cluster  of 
■churches  and  official  palaces,  and  a  statue  to 
Karamzine  the  historian,  who  was  born  in  Sim- 
birsk Province. 


178  THE  TOimiST'S  RUSSIA 

South  of  Simbirsk,  the  character  of  the  scenery 
alters,  and  the  river  makes  a  great  loop  to  the 
east.  The  mountains  of  Siberia  sweep  across  the 
plains  to  meet  the  Volga  and  follow  along  its  bor- 
ders for  many  miles.  The  cliffs  heighten  into 
hills,  and,  behind,  rises  a  range  of  peaks.  Vil- 
lages and  chateaux  are  perched  on  rocky  eleva- 
tions which  stand  directly  upon  the  river.  The 
Jhiguli  Hills  do  not  attain  to  a  greater  height 
than  about  nine  hundred  feet,  but  they  rise  so 
precipitously  from  the  water,  and  are  in  such 
contrast  to  the  gentle  slopes  above  Samara  that 
they  take  on  increased  dignity  by  comparison. 
As  the  steamboat  makes  its  way  between  hills, 
riven  with  gorges,  and  projecting  masses  of  rug- 
ged rocks,  it  is  easy  to  imagine  a  resemblance  to 
the  Lorelei  section  of  the  Rhine,  or  to  the  Riviera 
between  Beaulieu  and  Monaco. 

Samara,  which  is  situated  between  two  hills,  is 
one  of  the  largest  of  the  Volga  cities.  It  is  ani- 
mated or  not,  according  to  the  year's  grain  yield. 
It  is  one  of  the  main  distributing  stations  for  a 
large  wheat  growing  community,  and  yet  there 
are  years  when  it  is  in  the  clutches  of  famine. 
In  the  hills  which  encompass  it,  are  Kumyss  Sani- 
tariums, where  patients  pursue  a  diet  of  fer- 
mented mare's  milk,  chiefly  in  the  spring. 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  179 

Samara  is  on  tlie  Trans-Siberian  Line,  thirty-four  hours 
from  Moscow,  by  express.  There  is  also  rail  connection 
with  Kliaikov,  on  the  main  road  from  Moscow  to  the  south. 
Passengers  wiio  do  not  wish  to  continue  the  journey  to 
Astrakhan,  can  leave  the  Volga  here,  and  by  the  above 
route,  which  requires  about  forty  hours,  join  railroads 
running  to  cities  of  Little  Russia,  the  Crimea,  Odessa,  and 
Warsaw. 

Having  overcome  the  obstruction  of  the  hills, 
the  river  twists  west  again,  and  at  Syzran  pur- 
sues its  southerly  course.  Syzran  is  a  sizeable 
town,  with  a  seventeenth  century  convent,  and  a 
park  of  which  the  citizens  are  very  vain.  Here 
the  grandeur  of  the  river  scenery  abates.  The 
remaining  miles  of  the  voyage  to  the  Caspian  are 
flat  and  lacking  in  attractiveness,  except  for 
occasional  plateaus  or  chalky  heights. 

Brief  as  is  the  list  of  tourist  attractions  in  the 
small  towns  at  which  the  tourist  calls  during  the 
last  three  days  of  the  voyage  from  Syzran  to 
Astrakhan,  there  is  much  of  interest  for  the  stu- 
dent of  races  and  contrasting  conditions.  The 
region  of  the  Nogai  Tatars,  the  Bulgars,  the 
Kalmuks,  and  various  Turko-Finnish  tribes  is 
succeeded  by  a  territory  occupied  by  German 
colonists.  Saratov  owes  its  prosperity  to  the 
immigrants  who  settled  here  at  the  invitation  of 
Catherine  II.  Like  most  cities  in  Russia  where 
the    German    element   dominates,   Saratov   is   well 


180  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

built  and  a  thriving  centre  of  trade.  Also,  like 
scores  of  Russian  cities,  Teutonically  inclined  and 
otherwise,  it  has  its  cathedral  to  Alexander  Nev- 
sky.  A  university  has  recently  been  established 
in  Saratov.  The  museum  near  the  theatre  con- 
tains a  collection  of  souvenirs  of  Turgenev,  the 
immortal  writer  of  the  "  Prose  Poems,"  "  Sports- 
man's Sketches,"  and  "  Smoke."  Many  Russian 
libraries  are  named  for  the  great  man,  and  many 
local  museums  treasure  relics  of  him.  He  was 
born  in  the  village  of  his  estate,  Spaskoe  Luto- 
vinovo,  near  Orel,  Orlov  Province,  south  of 
Moscow,  in  1818,  and  died  1883. 

A  branch  railway  connects  Saratov  with  the  Samara-Pen sa- 
Kharkov  line.  This  is  a  shorter  route  than  to  leave  the 
boat  at  Samara,  and  proceed  by  rail,  since  the  river  is 
further  west  at  Saratov  than  at  Samara. 

At  Tsaritzine,  a  Tatar  city  of  considerable  com- 
mercial activity,  the  stream  begins  to  branch  and 
divide,  until,  below  Astrakhan,  it  has  no  less  than 
seventy  mouths. 

Three  lines  of  railroad  depart  from  Tsaritzine.  One 
turns  north  toward  Moscow.  Another  traverses  the  Prov- 
ince of  the  Don  Cossacks,  and  joins  the  Moscow-Sevasto- 
pol line  just  east  of  Ekaterinoslav.  The  third  goes  south- 
west to  Ekaterinodar  and  on  to  Novorossisk.  The  latter 
is  a  port  on  the  Black  Sea.    The  Russian  Steam  Naviga- 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  181 

tion  Company  has  a  frequent  service  between  Batum,  No- 
vorossisk,  Kertch,  Feodosia,  Yalta,  and  Sevastopol.  From 
Novorossisk,  therefore,  there  is  direct  communication  with 
the  Crimea,  and  on  to  Odessa,  Kiev,  and  Warsaw,  by- 
steamer  and  train. 


Astrakhan. 

Astrakhan  is  not  beautiful  or  picturesque,  but  it 
is  of  practical  interest  to  the  millions  who  regard 
caviare  as  a  delicacy  pre-eminent.  The  Caspian 
is  one  of  the  largest  inland  sea  fishing-grounds. 
The  sturgeon  is  its  most  valuable  product,  and 
Astrakhan  is  the  principal  shipping  point  for  the 
sturgeon  fisheries.  The  fish  are  usually  caught 
with  nets.  In  the  winter  they  are  harpooned 
through  the  ice  in  the  rivers  and  seas  where  they 
hibernate,  with  noses  buried  and  tails  up,  resem- 
bling the  ostrich  in  the  foolish  notion  that  they 
are  hidden  from  pursuers  because  their  heads  are 
covered. 

The  fisheries  are  plotted  and  auctioned  by  the 
Government.  A  recent  combination  of  firms  has 
resulted  in  the  almost  complete  elimination  of 
competition,  and  in  the  construction  of  hitherto 
unknown  refrigerating  warehouses.  The  species 
of  sturgeon  called  Ruthensus,  or  sterlet,  yields  the 
best  caviare  and  isinglass.  The  value  of  the  Cas- 
pian fisheries  as  a  whole  is  estimated  at  Rs.28,- 


182  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

000,000  yearly.  Over  Rs.3,500,000  worth  of 
caviare  alone  was  exported  last  year.  Ships  in 
the  oil  and  naphtha  trade  aggregating  millions 
in  tonnage  enter  Astrakhan  harbour  every  year, 
establishing  this  remote  Caucasian  city  as  one  of 
the  chief  ports  of  all  Russia. 

Astrakhan  is  a  half-way  house  for  the  nations. 
Its  population  is  a  melange  of  Armenians,  Per- 
sians, Tatars,  Russians  and  Germans.  The  Ich- 
thyological  Museum  displays  an  unusually  fine 
piscatorial  collection,  and  is  eminently  apropos. 

Steamers  which  leave  Astrakhan  at  9:00  a.  m.  Tuesday  and 
Friday  reach  Baku  on  the  following  Thursday  and  Mon- 
day, at  8:30  p.  m.,  with  a  stop  at  Petrovsk  en  route.  There 
is  also  daily  service  between  the  two  cities,  leaving  Astra- 
khan at  9:00  a.  m.  The  price  of  passage  is  about  Rs.22.00, 
first-class,  and  Rs. 16.00,  second,  including  dinners.  Some 
of  the  steamers  call  at  Derbent,  formerly  a  Persian  city. 
The  stamp  of  Asiatic  sovereignty  is  still  upon  it,  as  nu- 
merous walls,  citadels,  and  gateways  testify.  There  is  also 
a  Mohammedan  cemetery  and  relics  of  early  combats 
among  tribes  of  the  middle  ages.  At  Petrovsk  or  Derbent 
one  can  make  rail  connection  for  Vladikavkas,  Novorossisk, 
or  Rostov-on-Don. 

THE  CAUCASUS.—  Baku. 

Baku  is  quite  as  windy  as  its  Persian  name  indi- 
cates. A  few  years  before  Derbent  was  ceded  by 
Persia,  Russia  took  over  Baku  from  her  neighbour. 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  183 

Since  then  it  has  grown  from  a  city  of  entirely 
Eastern  bearing  to  an  active  modern  city,  the 
most  important  harbour  on  the  Caspian.  Its  Per- 
sian monuments  are  crowded  to  one  side  by  new 
business  blocks,  and  electric  cars  run  on  the  main 
streets.  Traffic  in  the  products  of  Persia  is  one 
of  the  sources  of  its  wealth.  But  it  is  chiefly 
known  as  the  oil  metropolis  of  Russia.  Sixty  mil- 
lion barrels  of  oil  were  last  year  taken  out  of  this 
district.  The  odour  of  oil  and  naphtha  is  insist- 
ent, and  not  over  agreeable.  There  is  a  pipe  line 
across  the  Caucasus  Mountains  between  Baku  and 
Batum,  on  the  Black  Sea.  The  territory  sur- 
rounding the  city  is  dotted  with  great  refineries 
and  an  army  of  oil  tanks. 

From  Baku  there  is  boat  connection  for  Tashkent  and 
Turkestan.  Also  to  Enzeli,  the  port  of  Reshd,  from  which 
Teheran  is  reached  after  a  land  journey  of  two  hundred 
miles. 

A  railroad  borders  the  Caspian,  ascending  from  Baku  to 
Derbcnt  and  Petrovsk,  and  there  turning  westward  to  Vla- 
dikavkas  and  Rostov-on-Don  (about  thirty-seven  hours  by- 
fastest  express).  From  the  junction  Kavkaskaia  to  Novo- 
rossisk,  the  trip  takes  eight  hours,  making  about  a  forty- 
hour  journey  by  rail  from  Baku  to  Novorossisk,  via  Vladi- 
kavkas. 

A  route  by  rail  from  Baku  to  Batum  passes  through 
Tiflis,  and  Kutais.  Tiflis  is  fourteen  and  a  half  hours  from 
Baku,  and  about  eleven  hours  from  Batum,  the  trip  from 
coast  to  coast  requiring,  therefore,  slightly  over  a  day  by 
the  best  train. 


184  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Tiflis. 

The  route  across  the  steppes  from  Baku  to 
Tiflis  discloses  the  Daghestan  Mountains,  fertile 
plateaus,  ruins  of  mosques,  and  the  curious  vil- 
lages of  the  lower  Caucasus.  The  Caucasian 
Mountains  divide  Russia  from  Southern  Asia,  and 
the  Black  Sea  from  the  Caspian.  Tiflis  is  almost 
at  the  centre  of  the  mountainous  district  now  per- 
taining to  Russia.  Since  the  early  years  of  the 
Christian  era  it  has  been  the  capital  of  the  Geor- 
gian kingdom,  and  is  now  the  centre  of  the  Rus- 
sian Government  in  the  Caucasus.  The  name  in 
the  tongue  of  the  Georgians  signifies  "  hot,"  and 
this  adjective  may  be  applied  to  the  Summer  tem- 
perature as  well  as  to  the  sulphur  springs  for 
which  it  is  renowned.  The  city  is  in  a  valley,  and 
is  as  important  strategically  as  it  is  commercially. 
The  native  streets  and  bazaars  leave  one  in  no 
doubt  as  to  the  proximity  and  one-time  mastery 
of  Asia.  The  costumes  of  the  mountaineers  and 
their  women  are  fascinating  in  the  extreme,  and 
reflect  the  semi-savagery  of  their  forbears,  and 
of  their  present  state.  Carpets,  silks,  fine  wool- 
ens, silver-mounted  arms,  the  fruits  and  wines  of 
the  Caucasus  are  bartered,  with  animation  and 
many  gestures,  in  the  streets  below  balconies  em- 
bellished with  fret-work.     In  the  Georgian  quar- 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  185 

ter,  one  looks  for  the  famed  beauties  of  old  Iberia 
and  is  not  disappointed.  The  Georgian  women, 
together  with  those  of  Chili,  are  counted  the  fair- 
est of  the  earth. 

The  Russian  quarter  is  built  with  the  open  spaces 
and  large  structures  which  mark  all  typical  Slav 
settlements.  On  the  long  Golovinsky  Prospekt 
are  the  Museum,  which  comprises  exceedingly  in- 
teresting ethnological,  historical  and  artistic  col- 
lections, and  the  Military  Museum.  The  life  of 
the  Winter  colony,  composed  of  Russian  officers 
and  officials  and  their  families,  is  replete  with  di- 
versions unknown  to  the  residents  of  northern  Rus- 
sia. Hunts  are  organised  in  the  forests  for  tiger, 
bear,  and  boar.  There  are  drives  to  Georgian 
convents  and  deserted  hamjets,  which  recall  an 
epoch  when  these  conquered  wilds  were  ruled  by  a 
haughty  and  valorous  people.  At  the  Governor's 
palace  are  dinners  and  balls,  where  the  gowns  of 
Paris  are  heightened  in  beauty  by  contrast  with 
the  uniforms  of  Cossack  and  Circassian.  Owners 
of  estates  south  of  Tiflis  are  hosts  for  house  par- 
ties, who  make  mountain  excursions  in  the  Bor- 
jom  region,  and  take  the  baths  at  Abbass-Tou- 
man,  which  is  also  a  Summer  retreat. 

Adventurous  ones  who  essay  to  climb  Mount 
Ararat  leave  Tiflis  by  the  railway  which  termi- 


186  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

nates  at  Erivan.  Ararat  is  almost  on  the  fron- 
tier of  Persia.  The  way  to  its  lofty  sides  is  by 
carriage  road ;  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Erivan 
the  ascent  is  begun,  and  endures  two  days  across 
volcanic  rock  and  treacherous  snows.  The  peak, 
which  legend  says  gave  refuge  to  the  Ark,  is  about 
seventeen  thousand  feet  above  sea  level,  and  com- 
mands a  stupendous  vista  of  the  Caucasus  of  Rus- 
sia and  Persia.  The  most  favourable  time  of  the 
year  for  its  ascent  is  in  the  late  Summer. 

All  the  attributes  of  a  superb  mountain  pano- 
rama pertain  to  the  passage  over  the  Grusinian 
Highway,  or  the  Georgian  Military  Road,  from 
Tiflis  to  Vladikavkas.  There  are  several  dili- 
gences which  make  daily  trips,  as  there  is  no  rail- 
way between  the  two  cities.  Places  may  be  re- 
served in  the  omnibuses,  or  carriages  may  be 
hired.  An  automobile  makes  the  journey  in  about 
twelve  hours.  Some  travellers  prefer  to  remain 
over  night  en  route  to  witness  the  sunrise  on  the 
snow  mountains. 

A  highway  equalling  the  Cornish  Road  above  the 
Mediterranean  in  sight  of  the  Maritime  Alps;  a 
view  as  awesome  and  inspiring  as  that  of  the  white 
monarchs  and  glaciers  of  Alaska  and  the  Cana- 
dian Rockies ;  ravines  as  darkly  wooded  as  those 
of  the  Eraser  River  in  British  Columbia ;  the  con- 


TOXia  OF  THE  VOLGA  187 

vents,  communities,  and  decayed  edifices  of  a  moun- 
tain kingdom,  alienated  by  natural  forces  from 
surrounding  empires  —  such  elements  contribute 
to  the  making  of  a  mosaic  assembled  by  the  lavish 
hand  of  Nature.  The  completed  work  is  one  of 
colossal  splendour.  To  attempt  its  description  is 
presumption,  and  folly.  The  Creator  has  fash- 
ioned many  wondrous  scenes  in  this  old  world. 
But  mortal  has  not  gauged  the  supreme  technique 
of  the  Almighty  Artist  until  he  has  travelled  the 
road  from  Tiflis,  past  Mtskhet,  through  valleys 
rent  by  impetuous  rivers,  up  acclivities  where 
half-fallen  villages  are  veiled  in  birch  and  beech, 
among  luxuriant  meadows  watered  by  avalanche 
and  torrent,  under  the  eaves  of  giant  cliffs,  by  the 
battle-ground  of  Georgian  kings,  to  heights  over- 
looking Kazbek  and  the  Mount  of  the  Cross,  on 
to  the  Dariel  Gorge  and  the  glacier  of  Dievdorak, 
to  the  Chateau  of  Tamara,  to  the  Terek  hurry- 
ing by  volcanic  shapes  and  forest  shores,  and  to 
Vladikavkas,  "  Queen  of  the  Caucasus." 

Vladikavkas. 

Vladikavkas  is  a  garrison  town,  well  fortified. 
It  lies  at  the  foot  of  a  basin  showered  by  the 
waters  of  the  many-armed  Terek.  It  is  also  the 
terminus    for   another  military   road   crossing   to 


188  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Kutais  by  the  Mamisson  Pass.  The  route  is  not 
without  occasional  risk,  where  the  highway  is 
crowded  to  the  edge  of  profound  ravines.  Those 
who  have  taken  this  four-  or  five-day  journey  over 
the  mountains  declare  that  the  view  upon  Kazbek, 
16,000  feet  high,  is  even  more  glorious  than  from 
the  Georgian  Road,  and  that  the  Gorge  of  Khas- 
sara  is  no  less  beautiful  than  the  Dariel  Gorge. 

North  of  Vladikavkas,  on  the  way  to  Rostov-on- 
Don,  but  off  the  main  road  on  a  branch,  is  Piati- 
gorsk,  the  watering-place  much  affected  by  those 
in  need  of  its  hot  sulphur  waters.  The  patients 
take  their  cure  in  sight  of  Elbrus,  the  tallest  peak 
of  the  Caucasus,  and  its  lesser  neighbours.  They 
walk  to  the  outlook  from  which  are  visible  the  five 
summits  whose  proximity  caused  Piatigorsk  to  be 
so  named,  "  The  City  of  Five  Mountains."  They 
make  a  pilgrimage  to  the  grotto  chapel  in  memory 
of  Lermontov,  the  poet,  who  was  killed  in  a  duel 
here.  Others  go  by  horseback  and  carriage  into 
the  heart  of  Central  Caucasus  where  Elbrus  of  the 
double  crowns  sits  among  a  coterie  of  peaks  vary- 
ing in  height  from  seven  to  eighteen  thousand 
feet. 

Among  the  multitude  of  races  and  sects  in  the 
Caucasus,  the  Georgians  are  predominant,  and 
have  continued  to  be  since  these  people,  who  are 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  189 

an  ofF-shoot  of  the  old  Greek  nation,  established 
their  dynasty  on  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea, 
more  than  two  thousand  years  ago.  They  warred 
for  centuries  with  Arabs,  Persians  and  Byzan- 
tines, and  added  to  their  empire  until,  by  de- 
grees, they  invaded  Asia  Minor.  Then  the  proud 
nation  fell  on  evil  days.  Persia  infringed  upon 
their  southern  border,  and  Russia,  awakened  to 
the  need  of  keeping  out  Persia,  invaded  from  the 
north.  Almost  a  century  of  secessions  and  fanat- 
ical conflict  ensued  before  Russia  finally  took  over 
the  Georgian  principalities  and  other  mountain 
tribes.  Mtskhet,  near  Tiflis,  was  the  Georgian,  or 
Gruslnian,  capital  before  Tiflis.  Westward  from 
Tiflis  to  Batum,  and  south  as  far  as  the  frontier 
of  Armenia  are  hundreds  of  mountain  towns  which 
have  preserved  their  character  almost  unchanged 
since  the  ancients  first  appeared  in  the  valley  of 
the  Kura.  About  fifty  miles  west  of  Tiflis  is 
Gori,  an  essentially  Georgian  town.  Beyond,  at 
the  head  of  a  branch  line,  is  one  of  the  gems  of 
the  Caucasus,  and  one  of  its  most  ancient  capitals, 
Kutais  the  former  Clytoea.  Protected  by  stately 
hills  and  placed  on  the  banks  of  the  riotous  river 
Rion,  it  stands  in  a  little  kingdom  of  its  own.  One 
steps  aside  from  the  outer  world  here,  and  joins 
another  realm,  peopled  by  fair  women  and  brave 


190  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

men,  descendants  of  a  race  which  ante-dates  the 
Egyptians,  and  which  has  maintained  its  culture, 
its   literature,   and  its  honour  through  cycles  of 
combat  and  strife. 
Batum. 

Batum,  the  last  of  the  Caucasian  cities  to  come 
under  Russian  rule,  is  one  of  the  main  outlets 
for  the  products  of  Persia  and  the  Caucasus. 
The  foreign  shipping  in  its  harbour  increases 
yearly.  Oil  is  its  principal  export,  though  out- 
going ships  also  carry  cargoes  of  liquorice  root, 
fine  woods,  silk  cocoons,  the  manufactured  silks 
of  Georgia,  carpets  made  on  Caucasian  looms, 
and  manganese  ore.  Through  its  custom  house 
pass  sewing-machines,  kitchen  utensils,  ink  and 
motor  cars,  among  other  consignments  for  Persia. 
Great  strawberry  fields  in  and  near  Batum  pro- 
duce tons  of  fruit  from  April  to  June.  The  har- 
bour has  the  treasonable  quality  of  being  tempes- 
tuous in  bad  weather,  so  that  vessels  which  put  in 
there  hoping  to  evade  the  evil  winds  of  this  coast, 
have  to  put  about  and  sail  out  again  until  the 
storm  ceases.  The  hoary  peaks  behind  Batum 
have  witnessed  many  a  beating  gale  rush  across 
the  Black  Sea  to  overtake  unwary  ships. 

By  the  steamers  of  the  Russian  Steam  Navigation  Com- 
pany, Batum  is  six  hours  from  Poti,  and  forty-eight  hours 


TOUR  OF  THE  VOLGA  191 

from   Novorossik.     Fare,   Batum-Poti,   about   R.1.00,   either 
class.     Batutn-Novorossisk,    Ils.4.00   and    lls.3.00,   first-  and 
second-class. 
See    under   Tsaritzine,    Chapter   VII,    and    under   Kertch, 
Chapter  IX. 

Poti  —  Sukhum-Sale  —  Gagry. 

Poti,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rion,  also  has  a  mod- 
icum of  trade,  but  is  handicapped  by  the  presence 
of  a  bar  across  the  harbour  mouth,  which  must 
constantly  be  dredged,  and  which  precludes  the 
entry  of  shipping  in  rough  weather. 

The  wild  forest  and  mountain  highway  which 
connects  Poti  with  Novorossisk  must  be  accom- 
plished in  carriage  and  saddle.  The  State  has 
under  consideration  the  construction  of  a  railway 
along  the  coast  from  Tuopse,  two  hundred  miles 
north  of  Poti,  to  a  point  on  the  Transcaucasian 
Railway  between  Samtredi  and  Batum.  By  this 
means,  it  will  be  possible  to  see  with  greater  com- 
fort than  now,  the  coast  scenery,  which  is  a  repe- 
tition of  the  magnificence  of  the  interior,  with  the 
addition  that  the  sea  is  always  at  hand. 

At  Gagry,  beyond  the  favoured  winter  station 
of  Sukhum-Sale,  the  steamers  of  the  North  Ger- 
man Lloyd  land  passengers  on  Spring  cruises 
from  Genoa  to  Black  Sea  ports.  The  excursion- 
ists are  then  taken  to  Novorossisk  after  a  sight 
of  the  royal  mountain  views  about  Gagry. 


192  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Novorossisk, 

Novorossisk  receives  a  great  proportion  of  the 
large  shipments  of  agricultural  machinery  from 
the  United  States  to  Russia.  The  harbour  is 
notably  good.  On  the  neighbouring  slopes  are 
vineyards  growing  the  mediocre  North  Caucasian 
grapes.  The  wines  of  the  Transcaucasia  are  very 
superior.  The  annual  production  of  young  wine 
is  about  thirty  million  gallons.  The  vines  of  the 
Northern  Caucasus  yield  about  ten  million  gal- 
lons a  year.  The  oil  fields  of  Maikop  are  east 
of  Novorossisk. 

At  Novorossisk,  North  German  Lloyd  passen- 
gers are  taken  by  train  to  Vladikavkas,  over  the 
Georgian  Route  to  Tiflis,  and  from  there  by  spe- 
cial train  to  Batum  to  rejoin  the  steamer.  They 
then  proceed  to  Crimean  ports,  and  parties  are 
arranged  to  explore  the  beauties  of  the  Russian 
peninsula.  This  recent  service  of  the  North  Ger- 
man Lloyd  is  recommended  to  travellers  who  de- 
sire new  touristic  emotions. 

See  under  Tsaritzine,  this  chapter,  and  under  Kertch, 
Chapter  IX.  Steamer,  Novorossisk-Kertch  in  sixteen  hours. 
Fare,  about  Rs.4.00,  first-class,  and  Rs.3.00,  second-class. 


CHAPTER  IX 

CENTRAL,  WESTERN  AND  LITTLE   RUSSIA 

Smolensk  —  Minsk  — (Brest-Litovsk)—  Tula  —  Orel  — 
Kursk  —  Kharkov  —  Poltava  —  Ekaterinoslav  —  Alex- 
androvsk. 

THE  CRIMEA 

Simferopol  —  Bakhshisarai  —  Sevastopol  —  Balaklava  — 
Alupka  —  Orianda  —  Livadia  —  Yalta  —  Gurzuv  — ■ 
Alushta  Theodosia  —  Kertch. 


Moscow  Is  the  centre  of  a  radiating  star  of  rail- 
ways. Besides  lines  connecting  the  great  ter- 
minal with  Riga,  Pskov,  Petersburg,  Yaroslavl, 
Nizhni  Novgorod,  the  lower  Volga  cities,  and  the 
Caucasus,  there  is  the  Trans-Siberian  road  run- 
ning cast,  the  one  to  Warsaw  on  the  west,  another 
to  Kiev  and  Odessa  in  the  southwest,  and  the  main 
route  from  Moscow  through  Central  and  Little 
Russia  to  Sevastopol  in  the  Crimea.  In  addition, 
there  is  a  vast  ramification  of  roads  which  do  not 
interest  the  tourist. 

The  Trans-Siberian  Express  leaves  Kursk  Station,  Mos- 
cow, twice  a  week  for  Vladivostok,  and  Shanghai,  Pekin, 
and   Nagasaki,  via  Tula,  Penza,  Samara,  Orenburg,  Omsk, 

193 


194  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Irkutsk,  and  Harbin.  The  journey  of  5385  miles  to  Vladi- 
vostok consumes  thirteen  days.  The  carriages  are  fitted 
with  bathrooms,  dispensary  and  library.  Fare,  Moscow- 
Vladivostok,  first-class,  Rs.345.00,  and  second-class, 
Rs.225.00. 


Route  to  Warsaw. 

A  train  de  luxe  leaves  Smolensk  Station,  Mos- 
cow, every  Friday  for  Warsaw,  arriving  In 
twenty-four  hours.  Distance,  811  miles.  Other 
trains  take  rather  longer  to  make  the  trip.  The 
route  is  the  one  pursued  by  Napoleon's  army  when 
advancing  upon  and  retreating  from  Moscow. 
Borodino  was  the  scene  of  a  battle  between  the 
French  and  the  Russians,  September  7,  1812. 

Smolensk. 

Smolensk  has  lain  In  the  path  of  many  contend- 
ing armies.  During  the  unsettled  years  of  the 
early  Empire,  it  knew  a  dozen  masters.  Never- 
theless, Its  position  in  the  centre  of  a  wide  plain 
on  the  navigable  Dniepr  insured  Its  growth,  and 
it  once  had  three  times  Its  present  population. 
After  the  great  battle  delivered  here  August  17- 
18,  1812,  the  city  was  burned.  But  three  months 
later,  the  French  under  Napoleon  and  Ney  re- 
tired In  disorder  through  the  city  they  had  rav- 
aged. 


CENTRAL  AND  WESTERN  RUSSIA     195 

The  composer,  Glinka,  was  born  in  Smolensk 
Province  in  1804.  A  statue  to  his  memory  stands 
in  one  of  the  squares.  The  city  has  an  air  of 
great  age,  and  contains  several  interesting  re- 
minders of  past  struggles  fought  within  its  gates. 


At  Borisov,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
west,  the  railroad  crosses  the  Berezina  River, 
where  Napoleon  met  final  and  terrible  disaster, 
routed  not  only  by  the  Russian  army,  but  by  the 
Russian  Winter.  The  troops,  entirely  disorgan- 
ised, after  a  valiant  resistance  on  the  banks  of  the 
river,  scattered  in  the  direction  of  Vilna,  to  the 
northwest,  through  which  old  Jewish  city,  Napol- 
eon had  so  confidently  entered  a  few  months  be- 
fore. 

Minsk  and  Brest-Litovsk. 

The  Warsaw  route  lies  through  the  core  of  the 
region  known  as  White  Russia,  of  which  a  major- 
it}'  of  the  population  are  Jews  and  impoverished 
Slavs.  Many  of  the  latter  are  descended  from 
the  Poles  who  once  owned  this  territory.  Their 
language  varies  from  that  of  Great  and  Little 
Russia,  and  their  physiognomy  and  costume  are 
different  also.     The  first  partition  of  Poland  gave 


196  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Russia  White  Russia  and  part  of  Lithuania.  By 
the  second  and  third  partitions,  Russia  inherited 
half  of  the  entire  Jewish  race  as  subjects.  Nearly 
94%  of  the  Jews  of  Russia  live  in  the  "  Pale," 
which  comprises  twenty-five  Provinces  in  Poland, 
Lithuania,  White  Russia,  Southwestern,  and 
Southern,  or  New  Russia. 

Minsk  is  half  Jewish,  and  the  chief  city  of  Minsk 
Province.  It  was  a  base  of  supplies  for  the 
French  army  during  their  eastward  advance. 

The  war-scarred  fortress  of  Brest-Litovsk  is  on 
the  frontier  of  the  former  kingdom  of  Poland, 
which  was  once  more  than  210,000  square  miles 
in  extent.  The  eminence  on  which  it  stands  at 
the  junction  of  the  Bug  and  the  Mukhovets  was 
long  coveted  by  many  nations.  It  is  now  a  first- 
class  Russian  fortification.  The  same  large  pro- 
portion of  Jews  prevails  here  as  in  other  cities 
of  this  district. 

About  five  hours  beyond  is  Warsaw,  pronounced 
Varshava,  by  the  Russians,  and  Varsovie  by  the 
French. 

ROUTES  THROUGH 
LITTLE  RUSSIA. 

All  roads  leading  from  Moscow  directly  south 
and  to  the  southwest  depart  from  the  Kursk  Sta- 
tion.    The  Black  Sea  Express  leaves  Petersburg 


IVAN    THE   TERRIBLE,    BY  ANTOKOLSKY 


CENTRAL  AND  WESTERN  RUSSIA     197 

and  Moscow  in  the  Summer,  fortnightly,  until  the 
end  of  September. 

Tula  —  Orel  —  Kursk. 

About  three  hours  south  of  Moscow  is  Tula, 
from  which  railways  diverge  in  various  directions. 
The  city  is  the  metropolis  of  Tula  Province,  and 
its  production  of  metal-ware  is  among  the  largest 
in  Russia.  Its  factories  turn  out  famous  samo- 
vars, black  enamelled  silver-ware,  and  many  other 
specialties  in  steel,  copper,  iron,  lead,  and  silver. 
About  ten  thousand  workmen  are  employed  in 
the  Imperial  Arms  Factory,  which  Peter  the  Great 
established.  Near  Tula  is  the  Tolstoi  estate, 
"  Serene  Meadows." 

Another  three  hours,  and  the  train  arrives  at 
Orel,  "  the  Eagle,"  on  the  Oka,  a  main  distribut- 
ing point  for  the  rich  "  Black  Earth  "  country, 
which  extends  southward  and  east.  Across  the 
Don  one  enters  Little  Russia,  of  which  Kursk  is 
the  most  northerly  city.  The  Cossacks  once  held 
this  territory.  Their  dwellings  were  built  about 
a  court,  or  kur.  Kursk  means,  "  pertaining  to 
the  court."  Like  all  border  towns,  Kursk  has  the 
characteristics  of  both  Great  and  Little  Russia. 
The  fruit  and  vegetables  of  its  orchards  and  gar- 
dens have  a  national  I'eputation. 


198  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

The  natives  of  Little  Russia  speak  a  different 
dialect  from  their  compatriots  of  the  north,  they 
have  darker  complexions,  eyes,  and  hair,  and  they 
dress  in  brighter  colours.  Though  inclined  to 
indolence,  they  have  pride  in  their  cottages  and 
surroundings,  and  their  towns  sometimes  present 
a  more  congenial  aspect  than  those  of  other  parts 
of  Russia.  They  have  intense  local  prejudices, 
are  imaginative,  and  sentimental.  It  is  signifi- 
cant that  nearly  all  the  eminent  litterateurs  and 
poets  of  the  country  are  sons  of  Malo  Russia. 

A  railway  three  hundred  miles  long  joins  Kursk  and 
Kiev,  via  Artokovo.  At  the  latter  point  the  line  is  met  by 
the  road  which  descends  from  Moscow  via  Briansk.  The 
distance  to  Kiev  from  Moscow  is  about  the  same  by  either 
route  (twenty-one  hours).  Odessa  is  twelve  hours  south  of 
Kiev  by  express  via  Kazatine.  Moscow — Kiev — Odessa, 
about  thirty-three  hours. 

Kharkov. 

Kharkov  is  on  the  trunk  line  from  Moscow  to 
the  Crimea,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  be- 
low Kursk.  Four  large  fairs  are  held  here  an- 
nually. The  total  value  of  manufactured  goods, 
groceries,  leather,  wool,  and  sheep  skins  sold 
at  these  markets  is  Rs.40,00,000.  Buyers  as- 
semble from  every  quarter  to  stock  the  commodi- 
ties for  which  Kharkov  is  the  centre.  The  largest 
fairs  are  the  Kreshenskaia  which  lasts  three  weeks 


CENTRAL  AND  WESTERN  RUSSIA     199 

in  January,  and  the  Pokrovskaia  in  the  month  of 
October. 

Kharkov  is  the  seat  of  a  university  having  five 
thousand  students,  ranking  in  numbers  next  after 
Moscow.  In  1910  the  Kharkov  University  for 
Medical  Science  for  Women  was  formally  opened. 
This  is  one  of  the  few  schools  for  higher  educa- 
tion open  to  women  in  Russia,  outside  of  courses 
at  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow.  The  University 
is  at  the  end  of  the  street  called  after  Catherine, 
in  the  centre  of  the  city.  Its  neighbours  are  the 
Cathedral,  the  City  Hall,  and  the  Great  Bazaar. 
The  busiest  portion  of  the  town  is  embraced  by 
two  rivers,  the  Kharkov  and  the  Lopan,  tribu- 
taries of  the  Donetz,  which  is  navigable  to  the 
Black  Sea. 

Two  hours  southwest  of  Kharkov,  on  a  branch  road,  is 
Poltava,  known  to  history  because  of  the  battle  which 
Peter  the  Great  fought  with  Charles  XII  of  Sweden  three 
miles  outside  of  the  city.  This  contest  decided  Russia's  po- 
sition in  Europe.  The  Mound  of  the  Swedes  dominates 
the  site.  It  is  about  seventy  feet  high,  and  is  crowned  by 
a  great  stone  cross.  A  house  in  the  town  is  marked  as  the 
one  where  Peter  slept  after  the  battle. 

Every  Summer  in  July,  Poltava  is  the  scene  of  another 
one  of  the  fairs  at  which  so  much  of  the  commerce  of 
Russia  is  transacted.  The  Iliinskaia  specialises  in  horse 
hides,  leather,  shoes,  and  the  sheepskin  coats  worn  so  uni- 
versally by  the  muzhik. 

There  is  rail  connection  from  Poltava  to  Kiev.  At  Pol- 
tava the  line  from  Kharkov  branches  to  Kremenschug  and 


200  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Elissavetgrad  en  route  for  Odessa.  This  route  to  Odessa 
from  Moscow  is  several  hours  longer  than  the  one  via  Kiev, 
listed  under   Kursk. 

Proceeding  from  Kharkov,  trains  for  the  Crimea  pass 
through  Ekaterinoslav,  founded  by  and  named  for  Cath- 
erine, and,  across  monotonous  plains  and  marshes  to  Alex- 
androvsk  and  Melitopol.  The  Prince  Potemkine,  who  won 
Catherine's  favour  by  his  prodigal  entertainments,  caused 
Alexandrovsk  to  be  built,  and  is  buried  in  the  Catherine 
Cathedral. 

Express  trains  from  Moscow  to  Sevastopol  make  the  thou- 
sand-mile journey  in  about  thirty- four  hours.  The  route 
is  Tula  —  Orel  —  Kursk — Kharkov — Ekaterinoslav — Alexan- 
drovsk —  Melitopol  —  Dankoi — Simferopol — Bakhshi-Sarai" — 
Sevastopol. 

THE  CRIMEA. 

The  Tauric  Peninsula  is  held  to  the  mainland 
by  the  slender  thread  of  the  Perekop  Isthmus. 
This  narrow  span  bars  the  Sea  of  Azov  and  the 
Putrid  Sea  from  the  northern  waters  of  the 
Euxine,  called  the  Black  Sea,  because  ancient 
mariners  believed  it  difficult  to  navigate.  In  the 
north,  the  Crimea  is  barren  of  scenic  charms,  but, 
gradually,  browns  turn  to  greens,  low  hills  lift 
in  gentle  rises,  usurping  the  tumuli  of  the  scorched 
pastures,  and  trees  and  rivers  appear  to  garnish 
the  freshening  landscape.  The  Salghir  is  the 
boundary  line  separating  the  ugly  North  from 
the  voluptuous  South. 

The  Tauric  Arcadia  is  as  ancient  as  it  is  fair. 
It  was  a  mart  for  traders  of  many  nations  sev- 


CENTRAL  AND  WESTERN  RUSSIA     201 

eral  centuries  before  Christ,  and  still  has  the 
stamp  of  antiquity.  Taurians,  Greeks,  lonians, 
Venetians,  Genoese,  Turks,  Crim  and  Nogai'  Ta- 
tars have  made  her  early  history.  The  peninsula 
has  served  as  a  barrier  between  the  civilisation  of 
mid-Europe  and  the  savagery  of  Volga  marauders. 
In  the  same  measure  it  was  a  buffer  between  the 
Allies  and  the  Russian  mainland  in  1854.  Since 
1784,  Russia  has  been  master  of  the  Province. 
After  the  Crimean  War  the  Tatars  fled  to  Turkey 
in  great  numbers,  leaving  five  hundred  villages 
abandoned.  They  were  succeeded  by  Bulgarians 
and  other  Christian  dependents  of  Turkey.  The 
descendants  of  Prince  Nogai's  horde  are  by  de- 
grees losing  their  hold  in  the  Crimea,  which  has 
been  their  habitat  since  the  third  century. 

The  Russians  look  upon  the  peninsula  as  if  it 
were  a  colonial  possession.  Its  extent  is  not  so 
great  as  that  of  Lake  Ladoga.  Its  population 
equals  that  of  Riga  and  St.  Petersburg,  being 
about  1,880,000. 

Simferopol. 

The  capital  of  the  Crimea,  which  was  once  a 
Tatar  stronghold,  is  now  an  energetic  Russian 
city.  Catherine  II  instigated  the  taking  of  the 
territory,  and  her  enterprise  is  commemorated  by 


202  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

a  monument  in  the  Park  on  the  banks  of  the 
laughing  Salghir.  The  Tatars  still  inhabit  a 
quarter  of  their  own  which  has  a  dozen  mosques, 
and  the  courts  and  odd  markets  peculiar  to 
Asiatic  communities. 

The  Crimea  is  the  chief  fruit  growing  region 
of  Russia.  With  the  orchards  of  Yalta  and 
Theodosia,  the  Simferopol  district  produces  yearly 
crops  averaging  32,000,000  pounds.  Every  kind 
of  temperate  zone  fruit  is  grown,  as  well  as  figs, 
pomegranates,  mooshmoolas,  oranges,  and  other 
fruits  of  the  tropics.  Simferopol  is  one  of  the 
four  cities  which  make  a  specialty  of  preserving 
fruits  and  bottling  syrups.  The  other  three  are 
St.  Petersburg,  Moscow,  and  Kiev. 

A  carriage  road  follows  the  Salghir  southeast  to  Alushta, 
on  the  coast  opposite  Caucasia.  But  the  most  travelled 
route  to  Alushta,  "  the  sea-port  of  Simferopol,"  is  the  coast 
road  from  Sevastopol,  via  Yalta. 

Alma,  among  the  orchards  of  apples  which  give 
it  its  name,  is  familiar  to  those  who  know  the 
story  of  the  war  in  the  Crimea.  The  battle-field 
is  twenty  miles  west  from  the  town. 

Bakhshi-Sarai. 
The   Tatar   "Palace   of   the    Gardens"    is   the 


CENTRAL  AND  WESTERN  RUSSIA     203 

Crimean  Mecca,  the  only  city  of  the  Crimea  which 
has  entirely  guarded  its  Asiatic  personality.     The 
tourist   who   leaves   the   train   here   en   route   for 
Sevastopol,    will    find    an    informal    grouping    of 
thoroughly    Eastern    dwellings,    and    a    heteroge- 
neous buying  and  selling  in  the  indefinite  byways 
which   suggests   Jerusalem.     The   city  is   a   Rus- 
sian Grenada.     The  Khan's  Palace  is  its  Alham- 
bra.     A  few  rooms  are  at  the  disposal  of  trav- 
ellers in  the  Sarai",  the  sixteenth  century  Palace 
of    Tatar    rulers,    where    minarets    and    balconies 
overlook   flowering   terraces.     If   one   is   tempted 
to  stay  a  night  or  so  he  will  be  given  a  room  little 
changed  since  the  days  of  the  old  Crim  kingdom. 
Just  to  sojourn  awhile  among  the  haunts  of  the 
vanished  sovereigns   of  a  vanishing  race  is  com- 
pensation for  the  hot  streets  without,  where  the 
noise  of  wrangling  traffickers  obtrudes  upon  the 
ear   from    sunrise   to   sunset.     In    imagination,   a 
slant-eyed  houri  leans  from  her  casement  to  pluck 
a  pomegranate,  while  her   emperor  looks   on  be- 
neath an  almond  tree,  and  finds  the  picture  good. 
In   the   mosque,   the   Faithful   answer  the   call   to 
prayer    as    in    the    time    of   Prince   Nogai.     The 
fountain  in  the  Palace  still  drops  its  tears  into 
the  marble  basin.      Some  say  Marie  Potocka  wan- 
dered in  these  halls,  captive  of  an  amorous  Khan. 


204  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

In  the  garden  he  sleeps  with  his  fellows,  last  of 
the  Tatar  kings. 

The  mausoleums  of  the  Khans  rear  themselves 
beside  the  mosque.  In  the  Palace  across  the 
court,  the  throne  room,  the  harem,  the  baths  re- 
main as  they  were  before  the  Russification  of  the 
Crimea. 

Romantic  hours,  even  days,  may  be  passed  walk- 
ing and  driving  among  the  ravines,  forsaken  set- 
tlements, and  prehistoric  caves  of  this  wonderful 
hill  country  There  is  a  convent  in  the  valley 
and  a  miraculous  spring  sung  by  Pushkine. 
These  must  be  seen.  Also,  the  grottos  of  Katchi- 
kalen,  and  the  view  of  the  Euxine. 

In  the  distant  Vale  of  Jehosaphat,  a  sect  of 
K-araite  Jews  have  their  burying-place.  They 
are  a  handsome,  superior  race  who  dissent  from 
the  rabbis'  interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Their  name  indicates  their  studiousness,  "  Readers 
of  the  Scriptures."  At  their  fortress,  Chufut- 
Kale,  lives  their  chief,  a  simple  rabbi  who  will  act 
as  guide. 

In  the  interior  are  the  ruins  of  Mangup-Kale,  or 
Mangup  Fortress,  which  once  swept  all  the  coast 
east  of  Sevastopol.  For  this  expedition  a  car- 
riage and  a  guide  must  be  employed,  and  provi- 
sions taken. 


CENTRAL  AND  WESTERN  RUSSIA     205 

At  Inkerman,  a  monastery  cut  from  rock  borders 
the  railway.  The  name  of  the  town  is  another 
reminder  of  the  contest  of  '54.  After  the  elapse 
of  a  few  minutes,  the  sea  and  Sevastopol  come  into 
view. 

Sevastopol. 

Sevastopol  has  risen  literally  from  its  ashes. 
Profiting  by  the  merciless  devastation  of  1854-5, 
it  has  assumed  a  new  and  pleasing  dress.  It  is 
the  largest  city  in  the  Crimea  and  a  third-class 
fortification.  It  is  a  military  port  only.  No  ves- 
sel flying  a  foreign  flag  may  now  enter  its  har- 
bour. 

The  sights  which  most  attract  tourists  are  as- 
sociated with  the  349-day  siege,  though  the  prom- 
enades, the  panorama  of  the  terraced  city,  the  St. 
Vladimir  and  the  Peter-Paul  Cathedrals,  the  forts 
and  the  sea  and  the  gay  restaurants,  filled  with 
oflfJcers  and  their  companions,  merit  their  own 
share  of  interest. 

At  the  end  of  the  Maritime  Boulevard  is  the 
Avhite  Museum  of  war  souvenirs.  The  Historical 
Boulevard  is  a  hot  bare  avenue  marked,  like  the 
roads  on  the  Vicksburg  battle-ground,  by  tablets 
showing  the  position  of  the  Russian  batteries. 
Across  Southern  Bay,  accessible  by  small  boats 


206  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

from  the  Gravskaia  Pristan,  is  the  Admiralty 
quarter,  and  the  high  plateau  of  Malakov,  so 
fiercely  assailed  by  the  eventually  victorious  guns 
of  MacMahon.  Further  on  is  the  Admiral  Kor- 
nilov  monument. 

Over  a  hundred  thousand  Russian  dead  lie  in  a 
park-like  enclosure  beyond  Sevastopol  Bay.  The 
redan  fortifications  and  the  cottage  where  Lord 
Raglan  expired  are  also  in  the  environs. 

A  fallen  necropolis,  the  remains  of  edifices, 
streets,  and  convent  walls,  two  miles  from  Sevas- 
topol, comprise  the  ruins  of  Khersonesus,  a  By- 
zantine city  which  prospered  five  centuries  before 
Christ.  Vladimir  chose  this  spot  to  receive  the 
baptism  of  the  priests  brought  from  Byzantium. 
A  church  bearing  his  name  adjoins  the  chapel  in 
which  the  rite  was  performed  which  invested  Rus- 
sia with  a  new  religion  in  place  of  the  nature  wor- 
ship of  her  pagan  tribes.  Near  the  dock  is  a 
small  museum  of  antiquities. 

On  the  Road  to  Yalta. 

The  Crimean  Cornish  is  traversed  every  day  by  a  mail 
coach  in  which  places  may  be  reserved  at  about  five  rubles 
apiece.  A  carriage  or  automobile  for  the  10-12  hour  drive 
to  Yalta  will  cost  Rs.16-25,  or  slightly  more  if  St.  George's 
Convent  and  Balaklava  are  to  be  included  en  route. 

The  trip  by  steamer  from  Sevastopol  to  Yalta  is  about 
five  hours  long.  This  can  be  taken  returning,  if  the  tourist 
wishes  first  to  enjoy  the  coast  road. 


CENTRAL  AND  WESTERN  RUSSIA     207 

If  an  early  start  is  made,  there  will  be  time  to 
turn  aside  from  the  highway  to  the  French  and 
English  cemeteries,  and  the  Convent  of  St.  George 
named  for  the  Crusader,  who  was  born  at  Lydda 
in  Lower  Palestine.  The  latter  is  placed  among 
shrubbery  and  Italian  poplars  on  a  rocky  height 
looking  upon  the  sea.  Beyond  is  the  Promontory 
of  Parthenike  of  the  ancients,  and  the  Cape  Fio- 
lente  of  modern  geography. 

Balaklava. 

A  few  versts  south  is  the  Bay  of  Balaklava,  a 
bowl  of  dark  green  water  with  steep  craggy  sides. 
The  village  is  opposite  the  serpentine  channel, 
which  insinuates  its  way  between  gloomy  cliffs. 
The  Russians  stormed  the  English,  and  the  French 
routed  the  Russians  on  the  hill  beyond,  where 
Scarlett's  Brigade  made  tlieir  rash  and  valiant 
charge. 

But  a  stranger  contest  was  disputed  on  the  Bay 
of  Balaklava  in  the  year  1869.  The  intruders  in 
scaly  armour  were  pursued  by  a  detachment  of 
greedy  dolphins,  and  sought  refuge  in  the  har- 
bour. Boned,  and  creamed  to  a  brown  paste  they 
are  known  to  epicures  as  anchovies.  Millions 
strong,  they  crowded  through  the  twisted  portal. 
They  thronged  the  Bay,  a  terrified  army,  fleeing 


208  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

from  dolphin  maws  They  floated  on  the  water  in 
a  silvery  mass.  They  stormed  the  muddy  banks, 
and  trod  on  one  another's  tails.  The  delighted 
inhabitants  made  haste  to  profit  from  the  siege. 
They  brought  boats,  baskets,  buckets,  and  bar- 
rels, and  imprisoned  the  squirming  battalions. 
But  though  they  scooped  and  baled,  the  shimmer- 
ing horde  still  exceeded  their  prison  confines. 

The  villagers  feasted  until  their  appetites  were 
appeased,  and  the  poorest  denizen  shuddered  at 
mention  of  a  fried  anchovy.  Rut  still  the  troops 
camped  on  the  shore.  Many  died  from  exposure 
to  air.  Their  tiny  carcasses  were  strewn  on 
the  beach.  The  sun  shone  hot.  ...  A 
breeze  from  the  south  blew  toward  the  land. 
.  Fastidious  townfolk  found  it  convenient 
to  pay  visits  to  distant  friends.  Others  remained 
steadfast  during  the  onslaught,  but  shut  firmly 
their  windows  and  doors.  Valorous  citizens,  real- 
ising that  Balaklava's  very  existence  was  threat- 
ened, called  for  aid  and  set  forth  to  do  battle. 
Hundreds  of  helpers  hurried  from  towns  even 
as  far  as  Sevastopol.  First,  they  loaded  cannon 
and  fired  upon  the  sentinel  dolphins,  still  obstruct- 
ing the  channel.  Then  they  proceeded  to  disen- 
gage the  shore  from  the  malodorous  grasp  of  the 
adversary.     They  toiled  for  days  loading  barges 


CENTRAL  AND  WESTERN  RUSSIA     209 

which  disgorged  in  the  sea.  Tools  lay  idle,  and 
shop  keepers  forgot  to  take  down  the  shutters. 
Only  the  women  responded  to  the  summons  of  the 
church  bell,  and  they  stole  quickly  from  their 
homes  with  muffled  nostrils,  and  closed  the  oak 
door  of  the  chapel  with  haste.  The  peaceable 
village  lay  beleaguered  by  an  overpowering  enemy. 
With  every  weapon  at  their  command,  the  inhabi- 
tants fought  to  rid  themselves  of  their  assailant. 
But  in  the  end  it  was  Nature  who  brought  her 
forces  to  their  aid,  and  effected  their  tardy  de- 
livery. Gradually,  under  the  southern  sun,  the 
finny  legions  disintegrated  to  a  soapy  substance 
which  later  dried  to  chalk,  and  became  one  of  the 
geological  strata  of  the  banks.  Thus  ended  a 
siege  of  greater  local  import  than  that  of  the 
allies  in  Balaklava  Bay. 

The  chain  of  calcareous  mountains  which  de- 
velop in  the  southern  Crimea  extend  in  a  sinuate 
range  for  over  a  hundred  miles  from  Khersonesus 
to  the  Bay  of  Kaffa.  They  are  apparently  the 
debris'  of  profound  erosions.  The  crags  and  cliffs 
are  rocks  in  ruins,  the  hills  but  fragments  of  a 
vast  plateau  torn  by  rumblings  and  upheavals, 
the  ravines  are  clefts  in  the  lime-stone  and  clay. 
The  south  coast  falls  toward  the  shore  in  abrupt 


210  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

descents.  Every  mountain  storm  detaches  boul- 
ders and  sweeps  them  down  to  the  valleys  and  on 
to  the  shore  to  form  new  promontories  to  cleave 
the  sea.  The  coast  appears  to  have  risen  out  of 
the  water,  possibly  when  the  Black  Sea  opened  its 
way  into  the  Aegean  and  lowered  its  level.  The 
volcanic  beach  is  for  the  most  part  barren  of  sand, 
shells,  and  sea-weed.  Often  its  curves  are  as  ex- 
act as  if  described  by  a  compass. 

The  forests  are  like  those  of  Normandy.  All 
the  trees  of  central  Europe  are  here,  the  oak, 
beech,  horn-beam,  lime,  elm,  ash,  sorb-tree,  aspen, 
willow,  hawthorn  and  wild  cherry,  prune  and  wild 
apple.  Across  the  mountains  is  a  sister  shore  to 
that  of  southern  Italy.  The  laurel,  the  juniper, 
the  quince  and  the  apricot  cling  to  the  sea-washed 
slopes.  Wild  vines  embrace  the  trunks  of  tropic 
trees. 

Great  peaks  soar  to  the  southeast  above  hills  and 
plains  which  are  botanical  jungles,  climbing  down 
the  Yailas  to  lordly  gardens  which  glow  beneath 
the  cliffs.  Along  the  wagon  road,  the  villas,  en- 
riched by  malachite,  porphyry,  marbles  and  rare 
flora,  bring  to  mind  the  Cote  d'Azur,  or,  if  they 
were  less  the  work  of  man,  untamed  Liguria. 

Chamois  sport  among  the  crags ;  rabbits  and 
foxes  scurry  through  the  woods.     But  there  are 


CENTRAL  AND  WESTERN  RUSSIA     211 

few  wild  beasts  in  these  hills  once  convulsed  in 
gigantic  disruption,  now  taking  a  long  sleep. 
Aquatic  birds  are  rare,  likewise  reptiles,  insects, 
and  molluscs. 

This  Eden  never  knows  frost.  The  mean  tem- 
perature is  55°  Fahrenheit.  Though  the  sun  is 
hot  in  July  and  August,  the  winds  across  the 
Euxine  temper  the  heat,  and  cool  the  soft  nights. 

It  is  not  until  one  approaches  the  Baidar  Valley 
that  the  Crimean  coast  justifies  the  rapturous 
claims  of  Pushkine  and  other  poets.  The  roadway 
shares  with  a  slender  stream  the  width  of  the 
valley,  which  broadens  by  degrees  as  it  draws  near 
to  Baidar,  a  Tatary  hamlet.  On  the  rise  above 
is  the  Gate  of  Baidar,  arching  a  sublime  tableau 
of  undulating  forests,  blue-green  water,  turbulent 
coast,  and  the  Crimean  Alps.  Travellers  may 
break  the  journey  here  and  see  the  sunrise  from 
the  windows  of  the  inn,  before  continuing  to  Yalta 
the  next  morning. 

Cape  Sarytch  appears  at  the  most  southerly 
point  of  the  peninsula.  Tortured  masses  of  red- 
dish rock  peer  around  the  long  curves  of  the 
highway.  Through  gate-ways  and  screening 
shrubbery  one  glimpses  the  domains  of  the  opu- 
lent. At  the  post  station  of  Kikeneis  surrounded 
by  shanties   of  native  mounta.ineQrs,  the  Alupka 


212  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

road  turns  south  through  the  valley  of  Cimiez 
shaded  by  cypress,  walnut,  and  mulberry  trees. 
The  Woronzov  Palace,  which  bestows  fame  upon 
Alupka,  is  a  cousin  germane  to  both  the  Moorish 
and  Gothic  schools  of  architecture.  The  grounds 
stretch  from  the  hills  behind  it  to  the  sea,  and  are 
a  maze  of  beautiful  effects  in  landscape  gardening. 
The  village  is  a  resort  for  Russian  invalids. 

When  the  imperial  family  is  not  in  residence,  the 
Palace  of  Livadia  is  open  to  the  public,  upon 
presentation  of  credentials,  like  passport  or  let- 
ters. The  domain  lies  on  both  sides  of  the  road. 
The  large  Palace  is  pretentious,  but  the  smaller 
is  home-like,  resembling  more  a  bourgeois  villa. 
Alexander  III  died  here  in  1894.  There  is  access 
through  this  estate  to  Orianda.  The  Palace  was 
burned  years  ago,  but  the  park  is  one  of  the 
most  exquisite  of  the  Crimea. 

Yalta. 

Yalta  is  the  gayest,  the  most  exclusive,  and  the 
most  expensive  Russian  resort.  As  always  with 
modish  Russians,  everything  is  done  on  a  large 
scale.  The  hotels  are  enormous  and  very  grand. 
The  casino  and  cafe  life  is  typically  extravagant. 
The  town  is  edged  to  the  border  of  the  Bay  by 
a  bare,  gloomy  mountain.     The  position  is  so  pro- 


CENTRxVL  AND  WESTERN  RUSSIA     213 

tected  that  the  temperature  rarely  exceeds  75° 
or  falls  below  45°.  At  the  bathing  hour,  the 
sands  are  bright  with  merry-makers,  yachts  rise 
gently  in  the  Bay,  and  promenaders  on  the  quay 
saunter  back  and  forth  in  light  toilettes.  The 
Yalta  planet  revolves  from  midnight  to  midnight 
in  an  orbit  of  frivolity.  It  is  the  social  capital 
of  the  Crimea. 

For  steamers  to  Sevastopol  and  Odessa,  to  Theodosia, 
Kertch,  and  the  Caucasus,  see  under  Kertch,  end  of  chapter. 

The  East  Coast. 

Steamers  make  daily  trips  to  Alushta,  twenty- 
seven  miles  northeast  of  Yalta,  but  the  carriage 
route  is  preferable  if  one  wishes  to  include  in  the 
outing  a  sight  of  the  Lower  and  Upper  Mas- 
sandra  and  Gurzuv. 

The  parks  and  vineyards  of  the  two  Massandras 
are  royal  possessions,  and  delightfully  laid  out. 
The  wine  is  of  rare  bouquet  and  highly  regarded 
by  Russian  connoisseurs,  though  strangely  almost 
unknown  outside  of  Russia. 

The  Due  de  Richelieu,  when  Governor-General  at 
Odessa  during  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  created  the  park  which  is  Gurzuv's  at- 
traction. Pushkine  lived  here  in  1820,  and  wrote 
gome  of  his  loveliest  sonnets  on  the  Crimea.     In 


214  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

the  vicinity  are  drives,  walks,  and  boat  rides  to 
hill  settlements  and  grottos.  The  sea  bathing 
finds  many  patrons.  The  mountain  views  up  the 
coast  to  Chatyr-Dagh,  and  Demirdji,  and  down  to 
Roman-Koch  are  most  impressive. 

The  finest  Crimean  vineyards  are  in  the  dis- 
trict which  extends  from  Alushta  to  Theodosia. 
Thousands  of  acres  are  planted  in  grapes.  The 
wine  cellars  of  the  large  owners  are  interesting 
to  visitors.  Alushta  is  also  a  resort  for  sea  bath- 
ers. 

The  ascent  of  the  "  Tented  Peak,"  Chatyr-Dagh, 
is  begun  from  a  village  five  miles  inland  from 
Alushta.  Guides  are  available.  The  round  trip 
consumes  about  twenty  hours  on  foot,  and  about 
half  as  long  on  horseback.  The  level  plain  on 
the  crest  is  of  great  extent.  From  a  height  of 
five  thousand  feet  it  surveys  the  sea  as  far  as  the 
Bay  of  Sevastopol,  and  away  to  the  southeast 
and  east  toward  the  Caucasus.  Viewed  from  this 
central  point,  the  Crimean  mountains  and  their 
foothills  unroll  like  an  ocean  of  peaks  before  the 
spectator.  The  descent  is  accomplished  by  com- 
fortable stages,  stopping  to  visit  several  grottos, 
and  remaining  overnight,  if  desired,  at  Korbek. 
A  forest  of  beech  trees  conducts  one  back  to 
Alushta.     With  Yalta   and  Alushta   as   centres, 


CENTRAL  AND  WESTERN  RUSSIA     215 

many  excursions  are  accessible  to  mountain  passes, 
cascades,  hill  convents,  and  old  Genoese  castles. 

Theodosia  is  reached  overland  from  Alushta  via  Sudak,  or 
by  steamers  of  the  Russian  Steam  Navigation  Line,  which 
make  frequent  stops  at  Yalta,  coming  from  Sevastopol  or 
Batum. 

Theodosia,  the  old  KafFa  of  the  Genoese,  has 
been  a  city  of  importance  since  its  foundation, 
six  centuries  before  our  era.  It  is  the  chief  com- 
mercial port  of  the  Crimea,  and  contains  much  to 
interest  the  antiquarian.  Aivasovsky,  the  pre- 
mier Russian  marine  painter,  is  honoured  by  the 
presence  of  a  gallery  composed  entirely  of  his 
pictures,  many  of  them  of  the  Black  Sea,  in  its 
various  moods. 

Theodosia  is  at  the  heart  of  a  most  prolific 
fruit  growing  region.  It  produces  quantities  of 
apricots,  apples,  pears  and  grapes.  Only  the 
lack  of  refrigerating  facilities  prevents  the  ship- 
ment of  thousands  of  bushels  to  England  and  else- 
where. Those  who  frequent  Theodosia  for  the 
baths,  take  the  grape  cure  in  the  Fall.  Foreign 
vessels  with  an  aggregate  tonnage  of  about  300,- 
000  yearly  call  at  Theodosia  to  load  grain. 
Across  the  Sea  of  Azov  to  the  north  is  Taganrog, 
through  whose  roadstead  ships  passed  last  year 


216  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

carrying  cargoes  of  wheat  and  barley  to  the  value 
of  Rs. 150,000,000.  The  grain  exports  from 
Rostov-on-Don  were  almost  equal  in  value.  These 
ports  of  the  Sea  of  Azov  and  the  Black  Sea  drain 
the  immense  stretches  of  grain  fields  in  the  basin 
of  the  Don. 

A  branch  railway  to  Djankoi  unites  Theodosia  with  the 
Moscow-Sevastopol  road.     Time  about  four  hours. 

Rertch  was  once  the  seat  of  Bosphorus  kings. 
It  guards  the  narrow  and  shallow  straits  through 
which  the  Sea  of  Azov  flows  into  the  Black  Sea. 
Behind  the  ancient  city  is  a  range  of  low  hills. 
A  stairway  leads  to  the  "  Mound  of  Mithridates  " 
where  legend  says  is  the  tomb  of  the  Sixth  Mith- 
ridates, who  died  a  century  before  Christ.  Other 
relics  of  remote  antiquity  are  in  the  vicinity  and 
are  easily  approached  by  road. 

Commercially,  Kertch  is  making  progress,  not 
only  as  a  shipping  port,  but  as  a  manufacturing 
town.  It  contains  large  tobacco  and  fish  curing 
establishments,  and  several  flour  mills.  British 
financiers  are  interested  in  oil  boring  operations 
in  the  peninsula  of  Kertch-Yenikale. 

The  railroad  from  Kertch  joins  the  line  from  Theodosia 
and  proceeds  to  Djankoi,  a  journey  of  less  than  five  hours 
from  Kertch  to  the  main  route. 


CENTRAL  AND  WESTERN  RUSSIA     217 

The  steamers  of  the  Russian  Steam  Navigation  Company, 
the  line  having  the  most  ships  of  any  Russian  company, 
leave  Datum  five  times  a  week,  calling  at  Poti,  Novorossisk, 
Kertch,  Theodosia  (also  "  Feodosia"),  Yalta,  and  Sevas- 
topol. 

TIME  TO  ODESSA 

From  Kertch 44  hours 

From   Theodosia 34  hours 

From  Yalta    24  hours 

From  Sevastool 16  hours 

The  time  and  fare  varies  somewhat  on  different  boats,  but 
the  above  are  approximately  correct. 
Fare  includes  meals.    Stop-overs   are  permitted. 


FARE 

First-class 

Second-class 

Rs.22.00 

Rs.17.00 

17.00 

13.00 

13.00 

10.00 

10.00 

7.00 

CHAPTER  X 

ODESSA  —  KIEV  —  WARSAW 

Odessa. 

The  sea  passage  to  Odessa  from  Black  Sea 
ports  reveals  the  Crimean  coast  line,  beautiful  es- 
tates on  the  shore,  numerous  capes,  busy  ports 
and  pleasure  resorts,  the  harbour  of  Sevastopol 
and  the  city  of  Eupatoria,  which  had  a  part  in 
the  Crimean  war.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Dniestr 
on  a  wide,  well-protected  bay  is  established  the 
"  Merchant  Prince  "  of  the  Turks. 

The  most  thriving  port  of  Russia,  and  its  fourth 
largest  city  is  the  least  Russian  in  appearance. 
The  foreign  inhabitants,  made  up  of  Germans, 
Italians,  Greeks  and  Armenians  assume  that 
Odessa's  clean  and  prosperous  aspect  is  due  to 
their  energy.  Cycles  before  Russia  owned  the  city 
it  was  the  trading-centre  of  Europeans  and 
Asiatics.  Its  first  Governor  was  a  Frenchman, 
the  Due  de  Richelieu,  to  whose  influence  and  far- 
sightedness Odessa  is  indebted  more  than  to  any 
other  for  its  boulevards,  long  rows  of  fine  trees, 
and  splendid  edifices. 

218 


ODESSA— KIEV— WARSAW  219 

A  broad  flight  of  steps  gives  access  to  the  Nicho- 
las Boulevard  from  the  quay.  Because  of  its 
arboured  promenades  and  view  of  the  sea,  this  is 
the  favoured  parade  of  the  Odessans.  The 
palaces  of  former  and  present  Governors,  the 
monument  to  the  Due  de  Richelieu,  and  Catherine 
II,  "  patron  saint  of  South  Russia,"  are  in  this 
quarter. 

The  University  of  New  Russia  has  three  thou- 
sand students.  Its  buildings  compare  favourably 
with  those  in  other  countries  devoted  to  higher 
education.  The  faculty  comprises  several  emi- 
nent names  in  philosophy,  chemistry  and  medicine. 
The  statue  to  Pushkine,  erected  before  the  Greek 
fa9ade  of  the  City  Hall,  is  unworthy  of  Russia's 
most  gifted  poet.  The  bust  which  crowns  it  is 
in  bad  proportion  to  the  base,  ornamented  with 
inappropriate  spouting  fish. 

The  Cathedral  faces  a  wide  square,  flanked  by 
a  garden.  Architecturally,  it  diff^ers  from  the 
accepted  Greek  Orthodox  forms.  A  tall  white 
tower  rises  in  three  stories  above  the  pillared  en- 
trance at  one  end.  A  green  spire  completes  it. 
Below  are  four  green  domes,  each  bearing  a  cross. 
Columns  and  high  portals  compose  the  outer  walls. 
The  style,  though  hard  to  classify,  is  nevertheless 
pleasing.     The  Library,  the  Station,  the  Bourse, 


220  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

and  particularly  the  modern  Theatre  are  among 
the  handsomest  in  the  monarchy. 

The  shopping  streets  reflect  European  progress. 
The  homes  in  the  boulevards  and  among  suburban 
parks  are  elegant.  Bathing  beaches,  mud  bath 
establishments,  which  are  numerous  in  Russia,  and 
several  diverting  resorts  are  reached  by  tram  or 
cab. 

Odessa  is  one  of  the  Russian  ports,  which  has 
been  recommended  for  large  Government  appro- 
jpriations  for  the  construction  of  harbour  im- 
provements and  grain  elevators.  The  cereal  ship- 
ments of  the  Black  Earth  country  pass  through 
the  southern  metropolis  and  the  neighbouring 
ports  of  Nicolaiev  and  Kherson.  Ships  carry- 
ing cargoes  of  grain  aggregating  eleven  thousand 
tons  clear  its  harbour  daily.  The  late  premier 
Stolypin  complained  that  the  Jews  controlled  the 
banks  and  grain  markets,  and  that  the  entire 
cereal  trade  of  Russia  was  in  the  hands  of  foreign- 
ers. Jews  form  one-third  of  Odessa's  popula- 
tion. Their  business  sagacity  and  acumen  ap- 
proximates that  of  the  members  of  their  race  in 
the  United   States   and  elsewhere. 

The  comparatively  good  harvests  of  recent  years 
have  enabled  farmers  to  buy  improved  implements. 
With  Novorossisk,  Riga,  and  Windau,  Odessa  is 


ODESSA— KIEV— WARSAW  221 

one  of  the  main  entry  ports  for  reapers,  thresh- 
ers, plows,  seeders,  corn-planters  and  other  pat- 
ented aids  to  the  tilling  of  the  Russian  soil. 
There  are  also  very  extensive  factories  built  by 
Russian  capital  for  the  manufacture  of  such  ma- 
chinery. Nothing  could  indicate  more  definitely 
Russia's  advance  than  the  application  of  scientific 
methods  upon  her  farms.  Nevertheless,  one  can 
travel  many  miles  through  a  great  portion  of 
European  Russia  without  seeing  a  modern  im- 
plement in  use.  Of  Russia's  population,  over 
three-fourths  are  agriculturists.  Only  a  small 
proportion  are  as  yet  educated  to  the  use  of  fer- 
tilisers, practical  ploughs,  and  other  machinery 
which  not  only  saves  labour,  but  increases  crops. 

Nicolai'ev  and  Kherson  have  become  serious  com- 
petitors of  Odessa  in  the  handling  of  grain,  and 
other  late  conditions  have  somewhat  impaired 
Odessa's  prestige  as  an  entry  port.  But  her 
situation  in  relation  to  the  rest  of  the  country,  her 
excellent  harbour,  and  the  vigorous  enterprises 
of  her  cosmopolitan  population  must  insure  her 
position  for  all  time  as  the  most  favoured  port 
of  the  Black  Sea,  and  as  one  of  the  five  or  six 
most  prosperous  centres  of  the  kingdom. 

The  Russian  Steam  Navigation  Company  has  a  bi-weekly 
service    to    Constantinople    from    Odessa,    and    vice    versa. 


g22  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Time  of  passage,  about  thirty  hours.  Other  lines  have  bi- 
monthly or  occasional  sailings  to  Mediterranean  ports. 
The  express  which  leaves  Odessa  at  8:50  p.  m.  arrives  in 
Kiev  thirteen  hours  later.  Passing  through  the  grain  and 
vine  growing  province  of  Bessarabia,  the  train  goes  north 
via  Jm^rinka  and  Kazatine  to  the  old  capital  of  Vladimir's 
day. 


Kiev. 

One  imagines  Kiev  as  an  oracle  in  a  temple  of 
ages,  a  crouching  dame  in  a  dim  chamber,  mut- 
tering over  the  braziers  of  legend  and  history, 
speaking  only  of  the  past  and  dead  to  the  present. 
The  sprightly  maiden  in  modern  dress  who  oflFers 
her  guest  the  hospitable  bread  and  salt  is  a  para- 
dox, the  progeny  of  recent  ambition  influenced 
by  the  West.  Her  wide  streets  laid  with  regular- 
ity are  a  heritage  from  her  founders,  but  the  of- 
fice buildings  and  hotels  of  "  Cross  Street  "  are 
the  outgrowth  of  late  years  of  prosperity  and  an 
awakened  desire  to  put  off  the  mummy  cloth  of 
antiquity  for  the  robe  of  modernity.  Many  of 
her  edifices  are  distressingly  big  and  new,  her 
shops  too  rarely  typically  Russian.  The  "  Old 
Quarter "  is  the  youngest  in  appearance.  The 
city  one  sees  upon  arriving  is  an  anachronism, 
a  disappointment.  Where,  then,  is  the  battered 
cradle  that  rocked  the  Empire?     The  traces  of 


ODESSA— KIEV— WARSAW  223 

Askold  and  Dyr,  Olcg  and  Baty?  The  citadel 
on  the  height  south  of  the  city  may  hold  the  an- 
swer. One  sets  out,  rather  disillusioned,  to  see 
the  lower,  or  commercial,  district. 

In  a  building  owned  by  the  municipality  and 
situated  not  far  from  the  river  Dniepr  in  the 
"  Podol,"  or  business  quarter,  there  is  held  every 
February  the  Stretensk,  or  Contract  Fair.  The 
traffic  in  sugar  is  its  most  important  feature, 
but  business  men,  farmers  and  manufacturers  also 
meet  to  make  contracts  for  delivery  of  all  sorts 
of  produce  and  merchandise.  The  turn-over  of 
sales  amounts  to  about  two  million  rubles  during 
the  three  weeks  of  the  Fair. 

While  the  Fair  is  in  progress,  it  is  customary 
for  the  share-holders  in  most  of  the  beet  sugar 
refineries  located  within  a  wide  radius  to  assemble 
for  their  annual  meetings.  Dividends  of  recent 
years  have  averaged  high,  from  ten  to  forty  per 
Gent.  About  130,000,000  tons  of  sugar  beets 
were  produced  in  Russia  in  1911  in  comparison 
with  10,850,000  tons  the  previous  year.  About 
two  million  acres  are  planted  in  beets.  Within 
the  past  two  or  three  years  Russia  has  become  one 
of  the  great  sugar  producing  countries,  and  Kiev 
is  at  the  centre  of  the  industry. 

The  Fair  Building  has  places  for  dozens  of  stalls 


224  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

and  these  are  well  patronised  by  purchasers  of 
Japanese  and  French  trinkets  as  well  as  Russian 
and  German  staples.  During  February,  hotel 
accommodation  is  at  a  premium,  and  the  conver- 
sation in  the  streets  relates  to  "  boiling,"  "  re- 
fining," the  price  of  jute  bags,  and  the  outcome 
of  the  Brussels  Convention. 

On  the  rise  above  the  Podol  is  the  elegant  Kret- 
ziatik,  the  Cross  Street,  with  its  plate-glass  show- 
windows  and  pompous  red  and  green  buildings. 

Luncheon  at  Smedeni's  is  very  much  like  second 
breakfast  elsewhere  in  Russia,  except  that  the 
conversation  from  table  to  table  is  rather  more 
vivacious  and  the  women  wear  more  pinks  and 
yellows  than  in  Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg. 
A  Cossack  posing  against  an  opposite  doorway 
reminds  one  that  Kiev  was  the  capital  of  the 
Kazaks'  kingdom.  They  are  to-day  wards  of 
the  monarchy,  and,  holding  their  lands  by  mili- 
tary tenure,  are  liable,  five  hundred  thousand  of 
them,  to  service  in  the  army  for  life.  War  is 
their  profession.  They  are  schooled  in  stoicism 
and  savage  obedience.  They  scorn  illness  and 
sneer  at  pain.  Their  village  life  is  half-civilised, 
and  their  women  are  regarded  as  chattels.  They 
have  a  rich  lore  which  they  recount  with  gusto 
about  the  evening  bonfire.     They  find  diversion, 


ODESSA— KIEV— WARS  iVW  225 

also,  in  games  from  the  saddle,  to  which  they 
are  bred  from  infancy. 

The  figure  in  a  tall  bonnet  of  Persian  fur  and 
a  garnet  coat  garnished  with  a  gatziri  of  silver 
repousse  containing  cartridges,  straightens  to 
salute  a  gold-braided  general,  returning  with  his 
orderly  from  a  morning  gallop.  Suddenly  the 
street  takes  on  an  air  of  expectation,  and  there 
is  a  movement  toward  the  restaurant  doors. 

It  is  the  first  of  August,  Old  Style,  and  the  be- 
ginning of  the  five  days'  fast  before  the  Great 
Festival  of  the  Transfiguration,  one  of  the  fifty 
special  holidays  of  the  Russian  calendar,  when 
the  stores  close,  and  the  business  of  the  city 
pauses.  A  service  celebrated  by  the  Metropolitan 
and  all  the  high  dignitaries  at  Kiev  has  been 
announced  by  the  rolling  of  thunderous  bells  all 
over  the  city,  and  now  comes  the  cortege,  pre- 
ceded by  men  supporting  square  metal  banners 
which  are  elaborate  examples  of  the  goldsmith's 
craft.  Topazes  and  amethysts  are  mounted  on  a 
background  of  blue  enamel.  Following  come  the 
clergy  royally  costumed,  ikons  suspended  from 
their  necks,  tapers  and  heavily  jewelled  books  in 
their  hands.  Behind  them  is  a  long  file  of  priests 
dressed  in  full  white  gowns  embroidered  with  gold 
thread  and  semi-precious  stones,  and  the  proto- 


226  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

popes  in  round  ecclesiastical  hats  of  black  or  vio- 
let velvet.  Three  bishops  carry  a  great  cross  em- 
blazoned and  chased  with  Slavonic  lettering. 
They  are  crowned  with  precious  metals,  and  their 
vestments  are  of  cloth  of  silver  and  gold  fastened 
at  the  side,  with  Bible  verses  wrought  in  seed 
pearls  around  the  hems.  They  sing,  but  have  a 
manner  distrait,  and  apart  from  the  ceremony. 

The  Cossack  bares  his  head  and  signs  the  cross 
perfunctorily.  The  more  devout  bow  low  from 
the  waist,  and  keep  repeating  a  short  phrase,  so 
that  a  murmur  runs  through  the  street  like  the 
echo  of  a  great  bell.  The  procession  passes. 
Everyone  returns  to  his  seat  at  the  restaurant 
tables,  and  resumes  the  neglected  luncheon,  while 
the  cheloveks  forsake  attitudes  of  veneration  for 
those  of  obsequious  attendance. 

Near  the  Bourse  is  the  City  Hall  from  which 
three  tree-bordered  streets  branch  to  an  oblong 
garden.  In  the  centre  is  an  immense  statue  of  the 
Cossack  Hetman,  Bogdan  Khmelintzky,  astride  a 
horse.  At  one  end  of  the  square  is  a  convent, 
along  the  sides  are  high  buildings,  and  at  the 
other  end  is  a  small  white  church  having  fifteen 
domes.  It  is  embraced  by  chapels  and  a  wall 
pierced  by  many  doors.  The  archseological  treas- 
ure known  as  the  Cathedral  of  St.   Sophie  was 


ODESSA— KIEV— WARSAW  227 

erected  in  1020  to  express  the  thanks  of  the  Grand 
Duke  Yaroslavl  for  battles  won  over  the  Pechene- 
gues,  a  Tatar  tribe.  The  Russians  call  the  church 
the  Yaroslavl  Sobor,  and  point  out  his  tomb  in  a 
chapel  forbidden  to  women.  The  interior  has  a 
sombre  sublimity.  The  transepts,  and  the  stair- 
ways to  over-hanging  galleries  are  painted  with 
extraordinary  eleventh  century  frescoes  in  the 
Byzantine  manner.  They  represent  hunting 
scenes  and  dances.  An  ikon  of  the  Virgin  in 
mosaic  on  a  gold  ground  is  adored  because  of  the 
miracle  which  preserved  it  whole  when  the  Tatars 
would  have  destroyed  it  with  their  battle  axes  in 
common  with  other  treasures  of  the  church. 
Among  all  the  paintings  and  relics,  this  mosaic 
on  the  wall  resisted  their  infamous  massacre.  To- 
day it  is  called  The  Virgin  of  the  Unbreakable 
Wall. 

The  court  is  nearly  always  filled  with  pilgrims, 
beggars,  and  sight-seers  who  come  in  thousands 
and  hundreds  of  thousands  to  this  venerable 
mother  of  Kiev's  sixty  churches. 

The  towers  of  the  Michael  Convent  Church  are 
like  those  of  St.  Sophie.  They  are  seven  in  num- 
ber, all  of  them  gilded.  On  the  screen  within  is 
the  ikon  carried  by  Alexander  in  the  war  with 
Napoleon. 


228  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

On  a  near-by  plateau  is  the  Baron  Klodt  statue 
preserving  the  memory  of  the  baptism  of  the  king- 
dom into  the  Christian  Church.  One  of  the 
numerous  expansive  views  which  the  Kiev  hills 
afford  is  obtained  near  the  curative  spring  where 
the  populace  gathers  on  certain  feast  days. 

The  Church  of  the  Three  Saints  is  on  the  way 
to  the  Mount  of  St.  Andrew,  the  highest  site  of 
"  Old  Kiev."  From  the  parapet  of  the  silver- 
domed  Church  of  Andrew  the  Apostle,  extends  the 
view  which  St.  Andrew  is  said  to  have  looked  upon 
when  he  planted  a  cross  and  predicted  the  rise  of 
a  city  among  the  hills  and  ravines  on  the  shores 
of  the  Dniepr.  The  vista  of  green  gardens,  un- 
countable cupolas,  the  steppes,  the  river  with  its 
edging  of  foliage,  the  fussy  pleasure  boats  on 
their  way  up  and  down  stream,  the  distant  for- 
tress and  the  walls  of  the  most  sacred  retreat  of 
Russia,  is  called  the  finest  in  any  city  of  the  Em- 
pire. 

Obscure  cycles  ago,  three  Polish  brothers  chris- 
tened the  infant  settlement  after  the  elder,  whose 
name  was  Kii.  For  a  thousand  years,  the  city, 
placed  on  heights  in  the  midst  of  plains,  has,  like 
a  prairie  Gibraltar,  been  the  object  of  combat. 
Knights  of  the  Rurik  dynasty,  Slavs,  Tatar 
Khans,  Lithuanian  Princes  and  Poles  have  moved 


ODESSA— KIEV— WARSAW  229 

across  the  wide  open  country  and  down  the  long 
Dniepr  to  struggle  hand  to  hand  under  the  lee 
of  the  mediaeval  fortress.  Kiev  was  the  capital  of 
the  second  Empire  after  the  decline  of  Novgorod, 
and  the  first  city  born  in  Russia.  Queen  Olga, 
the  Holy,  turned  to  the  Byzantine  faith  a  genera- 
tion before  Prince  Vladimir  embraced  it  in  the 
name  of  his  people. 

Everything  relating  to  the  Orthodox  Church  is 
consecrated  by  powerful  tradition.  Russian 
church  edifices,  turned  from  the  same  architectural 
mill,  remain  the  same  down  centuries  in  which 
Europe  has  passed  the  middle  age  and  modern 
art  epochs.  Roman  and  Gothic  architecture  has 
had  but  a  timid  influence  in  the  ten  centuries  of 
the  Church  in  Russia.  In  the  same  measure,  the 
ceremonial  and  the  devotion  of  the  communicants 
has  remained  immutable,  unimpressed  by  the  se- 
quence of  ages.  As  one  ponders  upon  the  story 
of  the  Russian  Jerusalem,  fixed  for  all  time  as 
the  historical  and  ecclesiastic  shrine  of  the  nation, 
the  imagery  returns  of  the  withered  crone  in  the 
temple. 

Beyond  the  statue  of  St.  Irene  on  Vladimir 
Street,  and  through  the  one-time  important 
"  Gilded  Gate,"  is  the  Municipal  Theatre  where 
Bogrov  shot  Premier  Stolypin,  who  is  buried  with 


230  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Askold  and  Dyr  on  the  hill  crowned  by  the  Pechor- 
sky  Lavra,  overlooking  the  Dniepr. 

The  decorations  of  the  near-by  Cathedral  of  St. 
Vladimir  are  called  the  handsomest  in  Russia.  Of 
all  the  ornamentation,  the  bronzes,  the  rich  mani- 
festations of  love  for  the  Church,  the  mural  paint- 
ings of  Vasnetzov  are  the  most  admirable.  The 
wide  Byzantine  eyes  of  his  Christus  look  mourn- 
fully from  the  great  cupola.  The  figures  of 
Vladimir,  Olga,  and  Alexander  Nevsky  on  the 
screen  are  his,  likewise  the  "  Baptism  of  the  Prince 
of  Kiev  and  His  Subjects,"  the  "  Last  Judgment  " 
and  portraits  of  the  Prophets.  Back  of  the  low 
marble  screen  is  his  beloved  Mother  and  Child, 
which  is  the  most  copied  of  all  the  modern  ikons. 
Thirty  years  were  spent  in  building  this  temple, 
which  the  Emperor  Nicholas  II  inaugurated  the 
year  after  his  ascension. 

The  University  of  Vladimir,  usually  called  the 
University  of  Kjev,  established  in  1833,  is  at- 
tended by  four  thousand  students.  Kiev,  of  all 
the  cities  now  belonging  to  Russia,  had  the  first 
school  for  higher  education.  This  was  the  Kiev 
Ecclesiastical  Academy,  founded  in  1631  by  Peter 
Mogila,  Metropolitan  of  Kiev,  who  had  studied 
at  the  Paris  Sorbonne.  Kiev  was  then  under 
Polish  government. 


ODESSA— KIEV— WARSAW  231 

Behind  the  red  University  buildings  is  a  Botan- 
ical Garden.  In  front  of  them  is  the  City  Park 
and  the  Hanenko  Palace,  possessing  an  art  collec- 
tion not  usually  visible  in  the  Summer.  The  Tere- 
chenko  Palace  has  a  still  finer  gallery  of  Rus- 
sian subjects. 

On  the  highest  hill  of  Kiev  stretches  the  third 
quarter,  comprising  the  imperial  palace,  the  bar- 
racks, amusement  parks,  noble  villas,  the  esplan- 
ade, and  field  of  manoeuvres. 

The  way  to  the  Pechorsky  Lavra  is  strewn  with 
church  edifices.  The  dismantled  citadel  forms  a 
grim  back-drop  for  the  harlequin  pinnacles  of  the 
monastery.  Below  is  the  Nicholas  Bridge,  the 
Hill  of  Askold,  and  the  branching  river. 

At  the  Festival  of  the  Assumption,  August  fif- 
teenth (August  twenty-eighth.  New  Style),  thou- 
sands of  devotees,  many  of  them  crippled,  pass 
through  the  Sacred  Gate  to  the  Court,  past  the 
four-storied  bell  tower,  and  on  to  the  steps  of  the 
Uspensky  Cathedral  on  the  spot  where  the  original 
church  was  dedicated  nearly  a  thousand  years  ago. 
The  funeral  Mass  of  the  assassinated  Premier  was 
said  here. 

Often  these  errant  hordes  of  pilgrims  have  no  vo- 
cation but  to  make  the  rounds  from  one  hallowed 
place   to    another.     Their    appeal    for   charity    is 


232  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

usually  heeded,  because  their  laborious  mission  in- 
vokes the  sympathy  of  their  inherently  ritualistic 
almoners.  The  monasteries  often  give  them  lodg- 
ing free  for  several  days,  and  they  are  never  dis- 
turbed if  they  lie  down  on  the  threshold  of  a 
chapel  or  church  to  pass  the  night. 

Despite  its  painted  gables  and  multitudinous 
domes,  the  church  does  not  impress.  But  the 
maimed  and  the  halt  see  nothing  but  the  open 
doorway  and  the  hazy  auditorium  beyond  where 
healing  awaits  them.  The  prayers  and  hopes  of 
the  Russian  peasant  dwell  on  material  and  bodily 
benefits,  rather  than  on  those  of  the  spirit.  Their 
attitude  toward  one  another  is  little  affected  by 
the  teaching  of  the  clergy.  Observance  of  the 
liturgy  and  the  arduous  rites  of  the  Church  is 
their  chief  concern.  So  they  write  petitions  for 
healing  and  for  blessings  pertaining  to  the  body 
upon  the  small  round  biscuits  baked  in  the  lavra 
ovens,  and  called  prosvira.  They  are  placed 
about  the  dripping  candelabra,  where  after  the 
service,  the  priests  will  read  them  and  present  the 
pleas  before  the  throne  that  answers  the  prayers 
of  poor  muzhiks.  The  requests  reiterated  so 
ardently  and  with  so  many  reverences  to  the 
ground  before  the  picture  of  the  Death  of  the 
Mother  of  God,  have  to  do  with  the  easing  of 


ODESSA— KIEV— WARSAW  233 

pain,  and  the  righting  of  contorted  limbs,  and  not 
often  with  the  curing  of  sins. 

The  ragged  multitude  pass  fervently  to  the  sar- 
cophagus of  Theodosius,  second  abbe  of  the  lavra, 
and  the  cypress  casket  which  is  reputed  to  con- 
tain the  head  of  Vladimir.  Those  who  receive 
special  permission  enter  the  Treasury  to  gaze, 
stupefied,  at  the  relics  and  the  precious  objects. 
One  jewel  in  the  parure  of  a  saint  in  this  richest 
monastery  treasury  is  worth  more  than  many  of 
the  votaries  could  earn  in  a  life  time.  A  high 
priest's  robe  represents  the  price  of  clothing  for 
a  whole  village  for  successive  Winters  and  Sum- 
mers. A  communion  goblet  of  etched  gold  em- 
bodies the  cost  of  bread  and  tea  for  every  soul 
who  passes  before  it  on  the  Festival  of  the  Trans- 
figuration. 

Follow  the  concourse  across  the  courts  and  pas- 
sage-ways to  the  Grottos  of  St.  Anthony,  chis- 
elled from  the  clay  and  upheld  by  stone  and 
plaster.  Wax  tapers  are  supplied  to  each 
entrant  at  a  cost  of  twenty  kopeks,  at  the  door  of 
the  catacombs.  These  give  the  only  light  to  show 
the  path  through  the  narrow  darkness  leading 
to  the  tombs  and  cells  of  saints  and  hermit  monks, 
who  once  immured  themselves  here  underground 
without  sun  or  fresh  air,  sometimes  for  half  their 


234  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

lives.  The  procession  pauses  longest  at  the  sep- 
ulchre of  Nestor,  the  Church  historian,  and  St. 
Anthony,  first  monk  to  perform  this  act  of  sacri- 
fice. But  each  mummy  in  his  shroud  of  silk 
receives  his  meed  of  homage.  Within  closed  cells 
are  other  skeletons  still  clothed  in  habits  of  every- 
day life.  When  the  hermits  failed  to  remove  from 
the  aperture  the  dole  of  food  placed  there  on  alter- 
nate days,  the  opening  was  walled  in,  and  a  Mass 
said  for  the  repose  of  the  dead  Brother.  Other 
grottos  are  reached  through  the  Church  of  St. 
Anne  further  down  the  hill. 

The  stream  of  awed  peasants  coming  from  the 
catacombs  merges  into  the  sea  of  pilgrims  surg- 
ing across  open  spaces,  buying  tracts  from  the 
lavra  print-shop,  and  religious  trinkets  to  add 
to  the  string  which  dangles  about  their  necks. 

The  Metropolitan  passes  from  the  church  to  his 
palace  near  the  campanile,  attended  by  priests 
and  populace.  The  chimes  burst  out,  and  the  pil- 
grims bow  to  the  earth,  repeating  certain  phrases 
with  resonant  insistence.  The  roofs  of  the  white 
city  show  green  and  terra  cotta  among  the  trees 
below  the  wall  of  the  lavra.  The  chimneys  send 
out  gusts  of  smoke  which  ascends  to  the  hill  of 
the  Grotto  Convent  like  incense  from  the  hearths 
of  the  Faithful.     At  the   innermost  soul  of  the 


ODESSA— KIEV— WARSAW  235 

Church,  at  her  best-loved  altar,  the  glare  of  new 
walls  is  forgotten,  and  ideals  of  Old  Kiev  re- 
turn. 

The  express  for  Warsaw  from  Kiev  leaves  in  the  evening, 
arriving,  via  Kazatine  and  Brest-Litovsk,  about  noon  the 
next  day. 

Warsaw. 

The  Polish  Paris  is  an  autocrat  in  chains.  The 
high-spirited  Poles  regard  themselves  as  hostages 
to  the  cupidity  of  nations,  forgetting  that, 
had  they  not  been  driven  from  their  position  by 
stronger  forces,  they  would  have  continued  as 
masters  of  their  present  sovereigns.  The  unpre- 
judiced say  that  Poland  was  divided  like  old  Gaul 
because  her  own  ambitions  had  for  hundreds  of 
years  made  her  a  disturbing  element  in  eastern 
Kurope. 

The  founder  of  the  Polish  kingdom,  Boleslas  the 
Brave,  began  by  seizing  Dantzig,  Silesia,  Moravia, 
and  territory  as  far  east  as  the  Dniepr.  The 
Poles  contested  with  the  Tatars  and  the  Hansa 
Order,  and  successfully  stormed  Moscow.  In 
1656  they  were  at  war  with  the  Swedes, 
who  later  took  Warsaw.  Fifty  years  afterwards, 
Charles  XII  entered  the  city.  Meanwhile  Jean 
Sobieski  carried  his  victory  over  the  Turks  by  the 


236  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

walls  of  Vienna,  and  pursued  conquests  in  the 
north.  Finally,  civil  war  raged,  encouraged  on 
one  side  by  France.  The  reign  of  the  last  king, 
Poniatowski,  was  begun  by  violent  dissensions 
among  the  Poles.  The  Russians  and  Prussians 
forced  their  services  as  peacemakers.  Revolts  and 
further  intervention  followed.  Poland  had  twice 
been  divided  by  the  nations,  before  Suvarov  won 
the  battle  of  Praga.  A  year  later,  the  weakling 
Poniatowski  abdicated.  The  final  partition  of 
Poland  was  accomplished  by  Austria,  Prussia,  and 
Russia  in  1795.  Warsaw  was  the  pawn  in  subse- 
quent moves  by  Napoleon  and  Prussia,  and  finally, 
as  capital  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Warsaw,  the 
city  fell  to  Saxony.  In  the  end,  the  Vienna  Con- 
gress gave  the  Duchy  to  Russia.  The  Poles 
played  a  desperate  game  in  1830  and  in  1861-4, 
hoping  as  a  last  chance  to  stale-mate  their 
stronger  opponents.  But  the  contest  ended 
against  them,  and  since  then  they  have  been  com- 
pelled outwardly  to  acknowledge  Russia's  check- 
mate. 

Russia  has  made  sure  that  any  future  revolts 
shall  be  as  useless  as  the  last.  Warsaw  and  the 
near-by  stronghold  of  Novo-Georgievsky  are  two 
of  the  four  first-class  fortifications  of  the  nation. 
Beyond  the  summer  resort  of  Novo-Alexandra  and 


ODESSA— KIEV— WARSAW  237 

the  chateau  is  another  mighty  fortress  at  Ivan- 
gorod.  Nearly  a  score  of  forts  protect  the  Rus- 
sian-Polish frontier  against  invasion  or  revolu- 
tion. The  citadel  of  Alexander  in  the  suburbs  on 
the  Vistula  was  built  by  the  Poles  at  the  command 
of  the  Russians  as  chastisement  for  the  uprising 
of  '30-'31.  Poles  in  the  civil  and  military  serv- 
ice of  Russia  must  serve  outside  their  own  boun- 
dary, Russians  being  sent  to  fill  their  places  in 
Poland.  The  Warsaw  University  is  closed 
because  the  students  refuse  to  obey  the  edict  that 
they  shall  take  their  courses  in  the  Russian  lan- 
guage. In  the  grammar  schools  the  Polish  tongue 
is  also  under  the  ban.  The  library  which  formed 
the  foundation  of  the  St.  Petersburg  Imperial 
Library  was  originally  one  of  the  proudest  pos- 
sessions of  Warsaw.  The  Poles  are  helpless,  but 
under  the  surface  is  the  same  spirit  of  rebellion 
which  actuated  former  revolt. 

The  Poles  are  brilliant,  melancholy,  and  intense. 
Their  capital  is  reflexive  of  their  moods,  though 
externally  more  often  gay  than  depressed. 
Despite  the  Poles'  protest  that  the  shadow  of  the 
eagles'  wings  lies  like  a  blight  across  their  national 
life,  the  streets  of  their  metropolis  are  a  rush  of 
industry  and  pleasure.  The  theatres  are  num- 
erous and  the  parks  delightfully  planned.     Many 


238  THE  TOUKIST'S  RUSSIA 

think  the  pleasantest  hotel  in  Europe  is  Mon- 
sieur Paderewski's  "  Bristol."  The  great  boule- 
vards and  plazas  are  quite  as  western  as  one  could 
expect  of  so  vigorous  a  city  only  fifteen  hours 
from  Vienna,  and,  by  Nord  Express,  ten  hours 
from  Berlin.  The  Roman  Catholic  churches  of 
course  predominate. 

The  foreign  influence  is  strong  in  trade  and 
manufacture,  though,  of  late  years,  the  Poles 
themselves  have  made  steady  advances  in  indus- 
trial fields.  Of  the  thousand  textile  factories  at 
Lodz  and  elsewhere,  only  about  one  hundred  are 
owned  by  Slavs.  Jews  control  nearly  six  hun- 
dred factories,  and  Germans,  three  hundred.  In 
the  iron  trade  the  Poles  lead  the  Jews  and  Ger- 
mans. Jews  and  Poles  divide  the  paper  indus- 
tries, but  the  Poles  predominate  in  mining 
operations.  Warsaw's  factories  work  princi- 
pally in  leather,  wood,  and  in  the  making  of  ma- 
chinery. 

In  the  old  city  the  feeling  is  thoroughly  national, 
but  the  stores  on  the  most  prominent  streets  show 
products  of  Germany,  Austria,  and  France,  and 
the  business  buildings  are  constructed  after  mod- 
ern ideals.  Educated  Poles  speak  French  as  a 
matter  of  course,  and  frequently  German  and  Eng- 
lish. 


ODESSA— KIEV— WARSAW  239 

The  main  boulevard  of  Warsaw  is  named  for 
Cracow,  cherished  city  of  Old  Poland,  now  owned 
by  Austria.  It  is  about  fourteen  hours  by  rail, 
due  south,  from  Warsaw.  Many  Polish  students 
attend  Cracow  University,  which  is  very  ancient 
and  has  graduated  some  great  celebrities,  among 
them  Copernicus,  the  Polish  astronomer.  His 
statue  by  Thorwaldsen  is  in  the  Boulevard  near 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Cross.  In  the  crypt  of 
the  latter  Chopin's  heart  is  buried.  There  is  a 
monument  to  him  in  the  church.  He  was  born  at 
Zelazowa-Wola,  forty-one  miles  west  of  Warsaw 
on  the  Vistula. 

The  University  and  Library  buildings  are  in  the 
direction  of  the  Kroncnberg  and  Potocki  Palaces. 
The  Art  Gallery  is  a  stately  edifice  erected  in 
recent  years.  In  it  are  exposed  works  of  art  bj' 
native  painters  and  sculptors,  which  establish 
Poland  as  a  nation  gifted  in  art  as  well  as  in 
music  and  composition.  On  a  square  opposite  the 
Gallery  is  a  monument  to  the  Polish  generals  who 
remained  loyal  to  Russia  in  1830.  Facing  it  is 
the  Church  of  Alexander  Nevsky,  with  a  cam- 
panile. The  church  architecture  of  Roman  Cath- 
olic Poland  is  in  such  contrast  to  that  of  Russia 
that  this  Greek  Orthodox  Cathedral,  dressed  in 
buff  and  blue,  seems  like  a  handsome  stranger  in 


240  .THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

a  Gothic  community.  In  the  same  neighbourhood 
is  the  Capucine  Church  of  the  Transfiguration  in 
a  chapel  of  which  lies  the  heart  of  Sobieski.  The 
conqueror  of  the  Turks  at  Vienna  offered  the 
church  as  thanks  for  his  victory,  after  the  cus- 
tom of  so  many  ancient  warriors. 

August  II,  who,  with  his  successor  August  III, 
did  much  to  beautify  Warsaw,  created  the  Saxony 
Garden,  and  the  Royal  Residence,  naming  them 
for  the  State  which  had  elected  him  to  the  Polish 
throne.  The  Ogrod  Saski  is  the  centre  of  out- 
door Summer  pleasures,  and  is  unusually  pleasing 
in  its  arrangement.  On  the  site  of  the  former 
Palace  is  the  present  seat  of  the  Military  Bureau 
of  the  city.  From  the  tower  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  there  is  a  picture  of  diverging  avenues, 
parks,  and  the  broad  river. 

The  Theatre  Square  is  a  spacious  plaza  fronting 
the  City  Hall,  fashionable  shops,  and  the  struc- 
ture which  comprises  the  Opera  House  and  two 
theatres  in  the  wings. 

The  Russians  have  removed  from  the  Carmelite 
Church  of  St.  Joseph,  near  the  Government  Build- 
ings, the  precious  archives  of  the  Polish  nation, 
and  thus  added  to  the  bitterness  of  the  Poles. 

The  Polish  Pushkine,  Adam  Mickiewicz,  has  a 
monument  in  a  green  square  faced  by  old  build- 


ODESSA— KIEV— WARSAW  241 

ings  with  slanted  roofs.  His  poetic  exhortations 
inspired  and  eulogised  the  patriotism  of  the  Poles 
during  the  early  years  of  resistance.  He  was 
born  a  few  years  after  the  final  dismemberment  of 
his  country,  and  died  at  fifty-seven,  not  long 
before  the  futile  and  sanguinary  struggle  in  the 
beginning  of  the  sixties. 

At  the  end  of  the  Cracow  Boulevard  is  the 
Church  of  St.  Anne,  with  Bernardine  cloisters, 
and  decorated  interior. 

On  the  Place  Zamkowy  is  a  statue  of  Sigismond 
in,  the  Swedish  king,  who,  thanks  to  his  union 
with  a  daughter  of  Sigismond  II,  ruled  Poland 
1506-1632.  The  Chateau  on  the  same  square  is 
now  the  Governor-General's  residence.  The  inter- 
ior may  be  seen  upon  presenting  a  card  from  the 
adjoining  bureau  of  administration.  Permission 
to  enter  the  Lazienki  Palace  is  also  obtained  here. 
The  most  valuable  objects  were  taken  from  the 
Palace  to  Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg  after  the 
first  revolution.  The  Cossacks  drill  on  a  parade 
near  the  Alexander  Bridge,  which  leads  from  the 
bank  below  the  Chateau  to  the  suburb  in  which 
are  situated  the  Moscow  and  Petersburg  sta- 
tions. 

The  Old  Quarter  is  a  snarl  of  mediaeval  alleys, 
straying    from    the    market-place.     The    houses 


242  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

remain  as  they  were  when  Poland  was  the  victor 
instead  of  the  vanquished.  The  Cathedral  of  St. 
John  is  placed  in  a  street  too  narrow  to  afford  a 
just  impression  of  its  beautiful  Gothic  naves.  It 
was  built  about  1250.  The  Madonna  on  the  high 
altar  was  taken  to  Paris  in  1807  by  Napoleon, 
the  master  marauder,  but  was  brought  back  again 
by  Alexander  I  after  eight  eventful  years.  Wall 
medallions  and  tombs  are  inscribed  with  many  of 
the  first  names  of  the  old  kingdom. 

The  New  Quarter  encloses  a  succession  of  early 
Gothic  churches,  of  palaces  and  gardens.  The 
Alexander  Citadel  towers  over  a  military  settle- 
ment containinjg  barracks  for  fifteen  thousand 
men,  a  hospital,  an  arsenal,  and  the  political 
prison  which  is  invariably  full  of  ill-advised  pa- 
triots. Opposite  their  cells,  across  the  Vistula,  is 
the  Prag-a  suburb  where  Suvarov  routed  their 
ancestors  in  1794.  Behind  the  city  is  Wola 
plain,  the  scene  of  the  deciding  battle  of  Septem- 
ber, 1831.  On  a  field  not  far  away  the  kings 
of  Poland  who  reigned  during  the  last  two  hun- 
dred years  of  the  nation's  life  were  elected  to  the 
office,  often  amid  exciting  scenes.  A  compass 
describing  an  arc  from  the  Citadel  to  the  Field 
of  Elections  would  complete  a  semi-circle  at  the 
Field   of   Manoeuvres    and   the   adjoining  hippo- 


ODESSA— KIEV— WARSAW  243 

drome,  where  running  races  attract  patronage  in 
the  Summer  and  Fall. 

On  the  outskirts  of  the  city  Jean  Sobieski  built 
a  mansion  on  a  height  above  a  lake  and  laid  out 
a  charming  estate.  The  chateau  is  of  national 
interest,  comprising  royal  chambers  filled  with 
historic  portraits  and  souvenirs,  as  well  as  some 
good  Flemish  pictures.  In  the  general  direction 
of  these  former  possessions  of  the  crown  are  many 
of  the  pleasure  parks  where  well-dressed  Var- 
soviens  dine,  and  dally,  perchance,  to  see  a  frivo- 
lous performance. 

The  Lazienki  estate  is  old  lace  and  diamonds. 
Now  the  demesne  of  Muscovy  Emperors,  it  is  still 
as  redolent  of  dead  days  as  a  fine  garment  laid 
among  faint  sachets.  Revelry  and  Artifice  peek 
from  windows  under  the  Chateau's  square  portico. 
Extravagance  flaunts  her  skirts  in  the  Orangery. 
The  sly  flutter  of  the  trees  hints  at  cabal  and 
clandestine  love.  Wit  and  Song  in  the  Shroud  of 
Time  speak  their  lines  among  the  Corinthian  pil- 
lars of  the  open-air  stage.  In  the  rotunda  of  the 
Amphitheatre  across  the  stream  stroll  the  spirits 
of  the  belles  and  gallants  of  the  last  days  of 
Poland.  They  drove  from  the  town,  as  one  may 
still,  out  the  long  avenue  of  lime-trees  by  villas 
and  gardens  to  the  Park  and  Palace  of  the  Baths. 


244.  THE  TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Poniatowski,  favourite  of  Catherine,  commanded 
their  creation.  They  came  into  existence  to 
please  an  exquisite.  Now,  when  Poland  as  a 
nation  is  no  more,  the  old  Poland  of  finesse, 
sparkle,  ambition,  and  intrigue  haunts  the  copses 
of  the  Lazienki  Park,  and  gropes,  complaining, 
through  salons  where  portraits  of  past  beauties 
smile  unseen,  except  for  the  occasional  gaze  of  a 
Russian  Tsar,  or  a  humble  tourist. 

A  train  leaves  the  Warsaw-Petersburg  Station  about  mid- 
night and  arrives  the  following  noon  at  Vilna,  of  interest 
for  its  Napoleonic  associations,  and  for  the  crooked  Jewish 
streets.  The  through  line  for  Petersburg,  or  for  Germany 
via  Wirballen  and  Konigsberg  is  met  here.  Libau,  and 
steamers  sailing  direct  for  New  York  without  intermediate 
call,  are  reached  by  the  road  which  runs  north.  The  train 
which  departs  from  Vilna  at  one  o'clock  arrives  at  Libau 
ten  hours  later. 


THE  END 


TOURIST'S  CITIES  OF  RUSSIA 

WITH    POPULATION     OF    CITIES    EN-ROUTE. 

o 

Abo;     pop.,     47,000;     hotels,i     Phoenix,    Jernvags;    banks, 

Northern  J,  S.  B.2 

Arensburgf;  pop.,  5,000;  hotels  .3 

Arkhangelf;  pop.,  21,000;  hotels,  Troitskaia,  Zolotoi  lakor; 

Banque  Russe. 
Astrakhan;    pop.,    147,000;   hotels,    Adrianople,   Commerce; 

bank,  R.  A.  B. 
Bakhshi-Sarai;  pop.,  13,000;  hotels,  Kahn's  Palace   (Rooms 

at  disposition  of  Police  Chief), 
Bakuf;    pop.,    128,000;    hotels,    Europe,    Metropole;    bank, 

R.  A.  B. 
Balaklava;  pop.,  2,000;  hotels.  Grand,  Rossiia. 
Batum*t;    pop.,    30,000;    hotels,    France,    Oriental;    bank, 

R.  A.  B. 
Brest-Litovsk;  pop.,  47,500. 
Dorpat;   pop.,  43,000. 
Ekaterinodar;  pop.,  71,000. 
Ekaterinoslav;  pop.,   157,000. 

*  Indicates  the  presence  of  an  American  consulate, 
t  Indicates  the  presence  of  an  English  consulate. 

1  Single  rooms  in  hotels  of  largest  cities  average  from 
Rs.2.00  up.  Double,  Rs.3.00  up.  Hotel  first  in  list  under 
each  city  usually  indicates  that  its  rates  are  the  highest 
Though  less  expensive,  others  are  often  equally  comfortable, 

2  Abbreviations:  "Northern  J.  S.  B."  =  Northern  Joint 
Stock  Bank  for  Commerce  and  Industry,  "  Banque  Russe  " 
=  Banque  Russe  pour  le  Commerce  Etrangcr.  "  R.  A.  B." 
=  Russo  Asiatic  Bank.  Names  given  of  other  banks  are 
not  abbreviated. 

3  When  in  this  and  other  instances  no  hotel  or  bank  is 
given  opposite  the  name  of  a  city,  it  does  not  imply  that 
there  are  no  hotels  or  banks  in  that  town,  but  merely 
that  it  is  of  comparatively  slight  importance  to  the  tour- 
ist, 

2i5 


24^G  THE   TOURIST'S  RUSSIA 

Eupatoriat;   pop.,  20,000. 

Gatshina;  pop.,  18,000;  hotel,  Veriovkine. 

Gorodets;  pop.,  7,500. 

Hangof;  pop.,  8,000;  hotels.  Grand,  Pension  Bellevue. 

Helsingfors*t;   pop.,    137,000;   hotels,    Societetshus,    Kamp, 

Central  Pension. 
Kazan;     pop.,     162,000;     hotels,     Frantsia,     Kama;     bank, 

R.  A.  B. 
Kertchf;  pop.,  32,000;  hotel,  Central. 
Kharkhovf;  pop.,  206,000;  hotels,  Prosper,  Kharkov;  bank, 

R.  A.  B. 
Kievt;    pop.,    323,000;    hotels,    Europe,    Bellevue,    Grand; 

Banque  Russe. 
Kineshma;  pop.,  8,000. 

Kostroma;  pop.,  43,000;  hotels,  Kostroma,  Ermitage. 
Kronstadtf;  pop.,  60,000. 
Kursk;  pop.,  57,000. 

Kutais;  pop.,  40,000;  hotels,  Imperial,  France. 
Kuopio;  pop.,  15,500;  hotel,  Societetshuset. 
Libau;   pop.,   65,000;   hotels,   St.   Petersburg,   Rome;  bank, 

R,  A,  B. 
Lodz;  pop.,  328,000. 
Minsk;  pop.,  100,000. 

Mitau;  pop.,  35,000;  hotels,  St.  Petersburg,  Linde. 
Moscow*!;  pop.,  1,335,000;  hotels,  Metropole,  Slav  Bazaar, 

National,  Berlin;  banks,  R.  A.  B.,  Credit  Lyonnais, 

Bank  of  the  Empire. 
Narvat;  pop.,  19,000. 
Nizhni    Novgorod;    pop.,    92,000;    hotels,    Rossiia,    Poste; 

Banque  Russe. 
Novgorod;  pop.,  23,500;  hotel,  Soloviev. 
Novorossiskf;  pop.,  42,000;  hotel,  Fran^ais;  bank,  R.  A.  B. 
Odessa*t;    pop.,    500,000;    hotels,    St.    Petersburg,    Bristol, 

Londres;  banks,   R.  A.  B.,  Banque  Imperial,  Credit 

Lyonnais. 
Orel;  pop.,  82,000. 
Peterhof;  pop.,  9,500. 


TOURIST'S   CITIES  247 

Poltava;    pop.,    50,500;    hotels,    St.    Petersburg,    Europe; 

Banque  Russe. 
Potif;  pop.,  10,000;  hotel,  Kavkas. 
Pskov;  pop.,  31,000;  hotel,  St.  Petersburg, 
RevePf;    pop.,    69,000;    hotels,    St.    Petersburg;    Goldener 

Lowe;  bank,  Revaler  Bank-Comptoir. 
Riga*t;  pop.,  283,000;  hotels,  Rome,  Londres;  bank,  R.  A.  B. 
Rybinsk;  pop.,  2'7,500;  hotel,  Zimine,  bank,  R.  A.  B. 
Samara;  pop.,  95,000;  hotels,  Rossiia,  Ivanov;  bank,  R.  A.  B. 
Saratov;   pop.,   198,000;   hotels,   Rossiia,    Stolichnaia ;   bank, 

R.  A.  B. 
Schlusselburg;  pop.,  7,000. 
Serghievo;  pop.,  20,000;  hotels,  Old  Lavra  Inn;  New  Lavra 

Inn. 
Sevastopolf;  pop.,  68,000;  hotels,  Kist,  Wetzel;  bank,  Union. 
Simbirsk;  pop.,  47,000. 
Simferopol;    pop.,    62,000;    hotels,    St.    Petersburg,    Grand; 

Banque   Russe. 
Smolensk;  pop.,  63,500;  hotel,  Europe. 
Staraia-Roussa;  pop.,  15,000;  hotel,  Kurhaus. 
St.  Petersburg*t;  pop.,   1,500,000,  Suburbs,  800,000;  hotels, 
Europe,    Grand    du    Nord,    Grand,    France  ;  banks, 
R.  A.  B.,  Banque  Russe,  Credit  Lyonnais. 
Syzran;  pop.,  36,500. 
Tammerforsf;     pop.,     44,000;     hotel,     Societetshus ;     bank. 

Northern  J.   S.  B. 
Theodosiaf;  pop.,  31,000;  hotel,  Europe;  Banque  Russe. 
Tiflis;  pop.,  197,000;  hotels,  Londres,  Orient. 
Tula;  pop.,  110,000;  St.  Petersburg,  Londres;  bank,  Union. 
Tsaritzine;  pop.,  56,000;  hotels.  Grand,  Stolichnaia. 
Tsarskoe-Selo;  pop.,  20,000. 
Tver;  pop.,  60,000. 

Uleaborgt;  pop.,  19,000;  hotel,  Societetshuset ;  bank,  North- 
ern J.  S.  B. 
Viborgt;  pop.,  24,000;  hotels,  Societetshuset,  Andrea;  bank, 

Northern  J.  S.  B. 
Vibia;  pop.,  168,000;  hotels,  St.  George,  Europe. 


^48  THE   TOURIST'S   RUSSIA 

Vladikavkas;  pop.,  53,000;  hotels,   Europe,   France;   bank, 

R.  A.  B. 
Vologda;  pop,,  29,000. 
Warsaw*t;   pop.,   771,000;   hotels,   Bristol,   Europe,   Bruhl; 

banks,  Bank  of  the  Empire,  Credit  Foncier. 
Windauf;  pop.,  7,000. 

Yalta;  pop.,  23,000;  hotels,  Russie,  Grand,  Central. 
Yaroslavl;    pop.,    72,000;    hotels,    Bristol,    Kokuiev;    bank, 

Union. 


INDEX 


Abbass-Touman,   185 
Abo,  74 

Alexandra   theatre,   95 
Alexandrovsk,  200 
Alma,  202 
Alupka,  212 
Alushta,  202,  214 
Arensburg,   62 
Arkhangel,  160 
Astrakhan,  181 

Baggage,  20 
Baidar,  211 

Bakhshi-Sarai,   200,   202 
Baku,  182 
Balaklava,    207 
Batum,   181,  190 
Bells  of  Russia,  123 
Beverages,  33 
Bilderlingshof,  59 
"Black  Priests,"  88 
Bologoe,   108 
Borisov,   195 
Borodino,  194 
Brest-Litovsk,  196 
Brunnspark,  73 
Bulgary,  177 

Cabs,  23 
Calendar,  44 
Cascades  of  Tmatra,  80 
Cathedral  of  St.  Sophia,  106 
Cathedral   of   St.    Vladimir, 
230 


Cathedral  Square,  Moscow, 
123 

Chapel  of  the  Iberian  Vir- 
gin, 119 

Chateau  of  Tamara,   187 

Chateau  Ratshof,  Dorpat, 
60 

Chatyr-Dagh,  214 

Chufut-Kal6,  204 

Church  of  St.  Basil,  112 

Church  of  the  Saviour, 
Moscow,   133 

Clytoea,    189 

Concerts,  38 

Convent  of  the  Virgins, 
Moscow,  135 

Copenhagen,  17 

Cuisine,  29 

Customs,  15 

Daghestan  Mountains,   184 
Dago,  island  of,  62 
Dariel  Gorge,   187 
Derbent,  18.2 
Dievdorak  glacier,  187 
Djankoi,  200 
Dorpat,  60 
Dorpat  University,  60 

Eastern  Crimean  Coast,  213 
Early  History,  48 
Ekaterinodar,   180 
Ekaterinoslav,    180,  200 
Elsinore  Castle,  17 


249 


250 


INDEX 


Elissavetgrad,  2*00 
Enamel  works,   144 
Erivan,  185 
Expiatory  Church,  86 

Fees    for  passports,   13 

Feodosia,  181 

Finland,  65 

Finland  Steamship  Com- 
pany, 17 

Finland  Tourist  office,  73 

Food,   31 

Foundling  Asylum,  Moscow, 
136 

Gagry,  191 
Gardens,  36 
Gatshina,   102 
Georgian  Road,   186 
Gorge  of  Khassara,  188 
Gori,   189 
Gorodets,  165 

Great    Bazaar,    St.    Peters- 
burg, 96 
Grottos  of  St.  Anthony,  233 
Grusinian  Highway,  186 
Gurzuv,  213 

Hango,  74 
Hapsal,  62 
Harbin,  194. 
Helsingfors,  69 
Historical  Society,  Riga,  59 
Hogholmen,    73 
Holidays,  44 
Holou,   144 
Hotels,  27 

House  of  the  Black  Heads, 
Riga,  58 

lisalmi,  78 


Ikon  painting,  143 

Imatra,  78,  79 

Imperial   Library,   94 

Imperial  Museum  of  Car- 
riages, 95 

Inkerman,   205 

International  expresses,  18 

Ipatiev  Monastery,  163 

Irkutsk,  194 

Islands  of  St.  Petersburg, 
97 

Ivan   III,  50 

Ivan   the   Terrible,   50 

Ivangorod,  237 

Jhiguli  HUls,  178 
Jmerinka,  222 

Kaffa,  215 

Kajaani,  77 

Kazan,   174 

Kazan   Cathedral,  85 

Kazantine,  222 

Kazbek,  187 

Kemi,  79 

Kertch,  181,  216 

Kharkov,   198,   198,  200 

Kherson,  220 

Kholoni,  144 

Khersonesus,  206 

Kiev,   181,   193,  223 

Kineshma,  164 

Korbek,  214 

Kosch,  64 

Kostroma,  163 

Krasnoe,  164 

Krasnoe-Selo,  101 

Kremenschug,  199 

Kremlin,  the,  Moscow,  122 

Kronstadt,  99 

Kuopio,  78 


INDEX 


251 


Kursk,  197,  200 
Kutais,  187,  189 

Lacquer-Ware,   146 
Lake  Ilmen,  107 
Lake  Ladoga,  80 
Lake  Nasi,    76 
Lake  Pyba,  76 
Lake  Saima,  78 
Language,  43 
Libau,  54 

Mail,  45 

Maikop,  192 

Majohrenhof,  59 

Makary  Fair,  the,  166 

Malakov,  206 

Mangup-Kal6,   204 

Marie  theatre,  95 

Markets  of  St.  Petersburg, 
97 

Massandra,  Lower  and  Up- 
per, 213 

Measures,  46 

Melitopol,  200 

Metropolitans,    seats   of,   89 

Minsk,   196 

Mitau,  56 

Money,  46 

Money,  Finnish,  69 

Mound  of  Mithridates,  216 

Mount  Ararat,  185 

Mount  Avasaksa,  79 

Mt.  Elbrus,  188 

Mount  of  the  Cross,  187 

Moscow,  110 

Moscow,  Art  Gallery,  138 

Moscow,  Cathedrals,  123 

Moscow,  the  Kremlin,  122 

Moscow  to  Warsaw,  194 

Mtskhet,  189 


Narva,  61 
Nicolaiev,  220 
Nizhni  Novgorod,  166,  193 
Novgorod,   105 
Novo-Alexandra,  237 
Novo-Georgievsky,  236 
Novorossisk,  192 
Nyslott,  78 

Odessa,  181,  193,  218 

Omsk,  193 

On  the  road  to  Yalta,  206 

Oranienbaum,  100 

Orel,   197,   200 

Orenburg,  193 

Osel,  island  of,  62 

Passports,  12 

Pavlovsk,   104 

Penza,  193 

Perm,  176 

Permits  to  Photograph,  42 

Peter  and  Paul  fortress,  86 

Peterhof,  99 

Photographing,  permits  for, 

42 
Piatigorsk,  188 
Poltava,  199 
Porters,  19 
Postage,  45 
Poti,  191 
Pskov,  107,  193 
Public    buildings,     Helsing. 

fors,  71 
Punkaharju,  78 

Races,  38 

Railway  Buffets,  21 
Railways,  18 
Rattijarvi,   78 
Restaurants,  34 


252 


INDEX 


Revel,   62 

Riga,   57,   193 

Rostov-on-Don,    182 

Rotterdam,  16 

Routes  through  Little  Rus- 
sia, 196 

Rovaniemi,  79 

Rurik  dynasty,  48 

Russian-American  Line,  16 

Russian  Art  School,  93 

Russian  School  of  Art,  138 

Russian  Steam  Navigation 
Co.,  217,  221 

Russian  Year  Book,  47 

Rybinsk,  108,  157 

St.   Izaak's  Church,  84 
St.   Petersburg,  82 
Samara,    178,    193 
Samtredi,   191 
Saratov,  179 
Schiisselburg,    98 
Serghievo,  148 
Sevastopol,  181,  205 
Simbirsk,   177 
Simferopol,  200,  201 
Slav   Bazaar,    Moscow,  118 
Smolensk,  194 
Sports,  41 
Staraia-Roussa,   107 
Statuary,  St.  Petersburg,  95 
Sukhum-Sale,  191 
Sveaborg,  69 
Syzran,   179 

Tammerfors,  76 
Tauride   palace,   94 
Telegrams,  46 
The  Crimea,  200 
Theatres,  37 
Theodosia,  215 


"Thieves'  Market,"  Moscow, 
146 

Tiflis,  184 

Tolstoi-  Estate,  197 

Tornea,  79 

Tours  on  the  Volga,  154 

Trams,  26 

Transportation,  15 

Transportation — 

Astrakhan — Baku,   182 
Baku— Enzeli,   183 
Baku— Tashkent,    183 
Baku  —  Tiflis  —  Kutais— 

Batum,  183 
Baku  —  Vladikavkas — No- 

vorossisk,  183 
Batum — Novorossisk,  190 
Batum— Poti,  190 
Kazan — Perm,  176 
Kazan — Riazan,   176 
Kertch— Djankoi,  216 
Kertch— Odessa,  217 
Kharkov — Odessa,  199 
Kiev — Kazatine  —  Odessa, 

198 
Kiev — Warsaw,  235 
Kursk  —  Artokovo — Kiev, 

198 
Libau — Petersbu,rg,    56 
Moscow — Kiev  —  Odessa, 

198 
Moscow    —    Nizhni    Nov- 
gorod, 153 
Moscow — Sevastopol,   200 
Moscow  —  Trans-Siberia, 

193 
Nizhni — Astrakhan,    156 
Novorossisk — Kertch,    192 
Odessa  —  Constantinople, 

221 
Odessa — Kiev,  222 


INDEX 


253 


Transportation — Continued 
On  the  Volga,  154 
Oranienbaum    —    K  r  o  n- 

stadt,   101 
Poltava— Kiev,  199 
Revel — Helsingfors,  64 
Revel — Petersburg,  64 
Riga — Moscow,  60 
Riga — Petersburg,    56 
Riga — Revel,  60 
St.     Petersburg  —  Astrak- 
han, 157 
St,    Petersburg — Gatshina, 

102 
St.  Petersburg — Krasnoe — 

Selo,    10:3 
St.     Petersburg  —  Kron- 

stadt,  99 
St.  Petersburg  —  Moscow, 

105 
St.      Petersburg  —    Nov- 
gorod,  105 
St.    Petersburg — Pavlovsk, 

104 
St.    Petersburg— Peterhof, 

101 
St.    Petersburg — Schiissel- 

burg,  99 
Samara — Kharkov,   179 
Saratov — Kharkov,    180 
Sevastopol— Yalta,    206 
Theodosia — Djankoi,    216 
Tsaritzine  —  Novorossisk, 

180 
Tver— Rybinsk,  109 
Viborg — Petersburg,    81 
Warsaw — Libau,   244 
Warsaw — Vilna,  244 
Yaroslavl — Nizhni,  153 
Yaroslavl — Rybinsk,  153 


Trinity   Cathedral,   89 

Troitsa   Monastery,    148 

Tsaritizine,   180 

Tsarskoe— Selo,  102 

Tuopse,  191 

Tula,  193,  197,  200 

Tver,  108 

Typography,  Moscow,  114. 

Uleaborg,  79 

United    Shipping   Company, 

17 
University  of  Kiev,  230 
University   of  New   Russia, 

Odessa,  219 

Vaala,  79 

Vale  of  Jehosaphat,  204 
Vassilsursk,  174 
Viborg,  78 
Vilna,  195,  244 
Vladikavkas,  182,  187 
Vladivostok,   193 
Volga,  the,  tours  on,  154 
Vologda,  160 

Warsaw,  181,  196,  235 
Weights,  46 
''White  Priests,"  89 
White  Russia,  195 
Windau,  61 

Winter    Palace,    St.    Peters- 
burg, 90 

Yalta,   181,  206,  213 
Yaroslavl,   153,  160,   193 
Year  Book,  47 


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